THE OLD PACO STATION  1930s

The Paco Station is one of oldest buildings constructed by the US government during the American colonial period. Resembling the Penn Station in New York, the station was designed by William E. Parsons, the man behind the notable structures of the Philippines under the early years of American rule which include the Manila Hotel, the Customs Office in Cebu City, the Manila Army and Navy Club Building, the Manila Elks Club, Philippine General Hospital, the Philippine Normal School, the Original Provincial Capitol of Laguna Province in Santa Cruz, the University Hall of the University of the Philippines in Manila and The Mansion House in Baguio.

The Paco railroad station came into being on March 25, 1908 when the Manila Belt Line from Tutuban to Paco Station and the railroad line from Paco Station to Binakayan, Cavite was opened. Furthermore, the Paco Railroad Station to Muntinlupa line was inaugurated on June 21, 1908. With the closure of the Manila-Dagupan line in the early 1990s, the Tutuban to Muntinlupa line is now the oldest railroad line still in operation here in the Philippines. It was constructed starting in 1912 and by 1915, the station was already complete.

The Paco Railroad Station was also the scene of a heroic battle during World War II and the recapture of the station led to the crucial defeat of the remaining Japanese forces in Manila. In the bid to reclaim Manila from the Japanese during World War II, Paco became a bloody battleground for hundreds of lives. On Feb. 7, 1945, the US 149th Infantry Regiment crossed Pasig River and landed in the suburbs of Pandacan and Paco, where an epic battle took place around the railway station with some 300 Japanese defending it. The battle cost 335 American lives before the Japanese resistance was finally smashed and the enemies annihilated.

On February 9, 1945 Technical Sergeant Cleto Rodríguez's platoon was ordered to initiate an offensive assault against the Paco Railroad Station that was being held by the Japanese. While crossing an open field in front of the railroad station his platoon was stopped 100 yards from the railroad station by intense Japanese gunfire. Without being ordered to do so Cleto and a fellow soldier, Private First Class John N. Reese, Jr., left the platoon and continued forward under heavy Japanese gunfire until they made it to a house 60 yards from the railroad station. The two soldiers remained in their position for an hour while firing at targets of opportunity, killing 35 Japanese soldiers and wounding many others. After an hour the 2 soldiers moved forward towards the railroad station where they discovered a group of Japanese replacements attempting to reach pillboxes. Cleto and Reese opened heavy fire and killed more than 40 Japanese soldiers and stopped any other attempts to reach the pillboxes. The enemy fire increased as the two soldiers came within 20 yards of the railroad station. Cleto's comrade provided cover fire while he moved up to the railroad station where he threw 5 grenades through a doorway killing 7 Japanese soldiers and destroying a 20-mm gun and wrecking a heavy machine gun. With their ammunition running low the 2 soldiers made their way back to their platoon while each took turns providing cover fire for the other to move. During the return to their platoon Private First Class Reese Jr. was killed. During the 2½ hours of fighting the two soldiers killed more than 82 Japanese soldiers and completely disorganized the defense of the railroad station, which paved the way for U.S. soldiers overwhelming the railroad station in victory. Two days later Cleto again enabled his platoon to advance when he single-handedly killed 6 Japanese soldiers and destroyed a well placed 20-mm gun. As a result of these actions both Rodriguez and Reese were presented with the Medal of Honor for their determination to destroy the enemy, and courage in the face of tremendous odds.

In 1996, a contractor of a 7-storey mall partly demolished the PNR station but due to the lack of funds it stopped, leaving behind a skeleton of the first four floors of the mall and the facade of the station.

Having such colorful history and the beauty of decades-old structures that have braved the storms and wars, the National Historical Commission, the PNR and other governing bodies decided to restore the structure in celebration of the station's centennial, with the addition of a historical marker on the structure in 2009.

But on April 27, 2012, Home Guaranty Corporation (HGC) pursued the air rights sale over the mall despite the ongoing PNR protest, thus stalling the restoration and re-construction work for the station. As of now, there is no visible effort to restore this grand structure to its former glory. Years after its centennial and as the hype over it died down, the ruins remain as ruins.

This is the sad reality of heritage sites in Manila or in any parts of the country, they don't find the importance of these kinds of buildings. Every year, more and more old buildings and homes like this one disappear to give way to tasteless and unimaginative architectural pieces such as mall and condos.