United Nations Avenue, also known as U.N Avenue, is a major thoroughfare in Ermita, Manila. It is quite well known not only in Manila but throughout the country. It has that recall among people not just because of its catchy, famous name but because it lies right smack in the country’s busy capital. This 1.9-km avenue is a landmark even to non-Manileños due to the fact that major establishments are found here such as the National Bureau of Investigation, Manila Doctors Hospital, the 780-seat Philam Life Auditorium (an international style structure designed by famous architect Carlos Argüelles), and of course LRT’s student-filled United Nations Avenue station.
Not many people know, however, that U.N. Avenue was not always known by that name. It was first called Calle Isaac Peral. Who could this person be? Isaac Peral y Caballero (1851–1895) was actually a Spanish engineer (and also an officer of the Spanish Navy) who built the Submarino Peral or the Peral Submarine in 1888. It was the first electric battery-powered submarine in the world.
In 1962, during the 17th anniversary of the United Nations, Calle Isaac Peral was renamed United Nations Avenue to honor the mentioned intergovernmental organization tasked to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and become a center for harmonizing the actions of nations.
United? These two street signs couldn’t even agree with each other 😂 (photo: Wikimedia Commons).
Today, as the world yet again celebrates United Nations Day, it is important to note how hollow and hypocritical this event has been through the years considering that among its major founding members —the United States of Uncle Sam— is an industrious instigator of war and warmongering. But let’s not even look far outside ourselves. Here we are, annually celebrating United Nations Day yet we continue hating a glorious past of which both Señor Peral’s country and the city of Manila used to be a part of. It is no wonder why we couldn’t tread on the correct avenue towards progress: we both refuse to move on and assess our past.
EL FILIPINISMO 