The Welcome Rotonda, officially Mabuhay Rotonda, is a

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford Eng ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

in the Philippines. It is located a few meters from Quezon City's border with

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

, at the intersection of E. Rodriguez, Sr. Boulevard, Mayon Avenue, Quezon Avenue, Nicanor Ramirez Street, and España Boulevard. It may also refer to the monument situated on its central island. The roundabout was officially named Welcome Rotonda until May 17, 1995, when it was renamed Mabuhay Rotonda by then-Quezon City Mayor Ismael Mathay, Jr., following an initiative by local restaurateur Rod Ongpauco to promote the use of the Filipino expression " Mabuhay!" as a way of welcoming foreign visitors to the Philippines.

History

1948 Opening

The roundabout was first opened in 1948, with a marble monument designed by Luciano V. Aquino erected at its center to welcome visitors to Quezon City, which was then the newly declared capital of the Philippines. The monument is surrounded by four lions indicating the

cardinal direction The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are ...

s. It served as the boundary between Manila and

Rizal Province Rizal, officially the Province of Rizal ( fil, Lalawigan ng Rizal), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Its capital is the city of Antipolo. It is about east of Manila. The province is named after José R ...

, prior to the creation of

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

in 1975. It is also a site for rallies and protests.

September 1984 protest dispersal

On September 27, 1984, Welcome Rotonda became the site of one of the most infamous protest dispersals during the

dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos At 7:17 pm on September 23, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos announced on television that he had placed the entirety of the Philippines under martial law. This marked the beginning of a 14-year period of one-man rule that would effectively last ...

, in which pro-Marcos forces fired tear gas on several thousand peaceful protesters which included 80-year-old former Senator Lorenzo Tanada and 71-year old

Manila Times ''The Manila Times'' is the oldest extant English-language newspaper in the Philippines. It is published daily by The Manila Times Publishing Corp. (formerly La Vanguardia Publishing Corporation) with editorial and administrative offices at 2/F ...

founder

Chino Roces Joaquin "Chino" Roces (June 29, 1913 – September 30, 1988) was the founder of Associated Broadcasting Corporation (now known as TV5) and a former owner of ''The Manila Times''. Early life Roces was born on June 29, 1913, to Alejandro "Moy" ...

; and fired into the crowd, hitting student leader (and later

UP Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

Chancellor) Fidel Nemenzo in the kidney. Other intellectuals, opposition leaders, artists, and journalists who participated in the rally were: * Tanada's son (and later Senator) Wigberto Tanada, * Constitutional Convention delegate (and later Philippine Vice President)

Teofisto Guingona Teofisto "Tito" Tayko Guingona Jr. (born July 4, 1928) is a Filipino politician and diplomat who served as the 11th vice president of the Philippines from 2001 to 2004, during the first term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Born in San ...

, * human rights lawyer (and later Senator)

Rene Saguisag Renito Augusto Verceluz Saguisag (, born August 14, 1939 in Mauban, Quezon, Philippines) is a Filipino lawyer and politician. He served as a Filipino Senator from 1987 until 1992. Early life Rene A.V. Saguisag was born on August 14, 1939 in ...

, * August Twenty One Movement (ATOM) and Bansang Nagkakaisa sa Diwa at Layunin (BANDILA) founder (and later Senator)

Butz Aquino Agapito "Butz" Aquino (May 20, 1939 – August 17, 2015) was a Senator of the Philippines from 1987 to 1995, congressman from Makati and a part-time film and television actor. He was born to former senator Benigno S. Aquino Sr. and Aurora Aqui ...

, * human rights activist Ed Garcia, * later

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac ( pam, Lalawigan ning Tarlac; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Tarlac; ilo, Probinsia ti Tarlac; tgl, Lalawigan ng Tarlac; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. It ...

Governor Tingting Cojuangco, *

WE Forum The WE Forum was a fortnightly newspaper in the Philippines founded by Jose Burgos Jr. in 1977, while Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos was still in effect. It was known for its hard-hitting coverage critical of the Marcos administration, which ...

photographer Lito Ocampo, * activist and writer Susan Quimpo, * Cebuana radio commentator Nenita Cortes-Daluz; and * film director

Behn Cervantes Benjamín Roberto "Behn" H. Cervantes (August 25, 1938 – August 13, 2013) was a Filipino artist and activist. He was highly regarded as a theater pioneer, teacher, and progressive thinker who was detained multiple times during martial law in the ...

. Iconic images showing Lorenzo Tanada and Chino Roces struggling against the waterhosing and teargas unleashed by the pro-Marcos forces led to a further decline in support for Ferdinand Marcos, who was already losing significant support in the wake of assassination of

Benigno Aquino Jr. Benigno "Ninoy" Simeon Aquino Jr., (; November 27, 1932 – August 21, 1983) was a Filipino politician who served as a senator of the Philippines (1967–1972) and governor of the province of Tarlac. Aquino was the husband of Corazon Aqui ...

the year before.Chua, Michael Charleston B. (2012) Haring Bayan: Democracy and People Power in the Philippines, in “For Democracy and Human Rights: Rekindling the Lessons of Martial Law and the People Power Revolution” (Discussion Papers for the 40th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Martial Law (Never Again, Remembering Martial Law @ 40).” Quezon City: Center for Youth Networking and Advocacy and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

1995 Ducat hunger strike

The roundabout attracted attention during the 1995 general election, when businessman Amando "Jun" Ducat, Jr.—who would later be known for kidnapping 26 students in 2007 near

Manila City Hall The Manila City Hall ( fil, Bulwagan ng Lungsod ng Maynila) is the official seat of government of the City of Manila, located in the historic center of Ermita, Manila. It is where the Mayor of Manila holds office and the chambers of the Manil ...

—scaled the monument and staged a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

at the top. He did this to dramatize his opposition to

Chinese Filipino Chinese Filipinos; tl, Tsinoy, / Tsinong Pilipino, ; Hokkien in the Philippines, Philippine Hokkien , Mandarin Chinese in the Philippines, Mandarin (also known as Filipino Chinese in the Philippines) are Filipinos of Chinese descent, mo ...

s running for public office, who he opposed because of their alleged control of the Philippines' rice trade. He wanted the government to ban Chinese Filipinos from being candidates and he sought to convince voters to vote against them.

Transportation hub

The Welcome Rotonda is known as a transportation center. It served as one of the first terminals for

jeepneys Jeepneys (), sometimes called jeeps (), are minibus-like public utility vehicles, serving as the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They are known for their crowded seating and kitsch decorations, which have become ...

as they began plying the streets of Manila after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

References