In 1938, President Quezon made a decision to push for a new capital city. Manila was getting crowded, and his military advisors (reportedly) told him that Manila, being by the bay, was an easy target for bombing by naval guns in case of attack–a real possibility in the late 1930s. Military advisers, however, did not anticipate aerial bombardment. Quezon supported the idea of a new city at least 15 km (9 mi) away from Manila Bay (beyond the reach of naval guns). He contacted William E. Parsons, American architect and planner, who had been the consulting architect for the islands early in the American colonial period. Parsons came over in the summer of 1939 and helped select the Diliman (Tuason) estate as the site for the new city. Unfortunately he died later that year, leaving his partner Harry Frost to take over. Frost collaborated with Juan Arellano, engineer A.D. Williams, and landscape architect and planner Louis Croft to craft a grand master plan for the new capital. The plan was approved by the Philippine authorities in 1941. The core of the new city was to be a 400 ha central green, about the size of New York’s Central Park, and defined by North, South (Timog), East and West Avenues. On one corner of the proposed Diliman Quadrangle was delineated a 25-hectare elliptical site. This was to contain a large capitol building to house the Philippine Legislature and ancillary structures for the offices of representatives. On either side of the giant ellipse were supposed to have been the new Malacañan Palace on North Avenue (site of the present-day Veterans Memorial Hospital), and the Supreme CourtComplex along East Avenue (now the site of East Avenue Medical Center). The three branches of government were to be finally and efficiently located in close proximity to each other.
Economy
The commercial center of the city is in Cubao, Araneta Center, owned by the Araneta family, where many shopping malls can be found. Fiesta Carnival was an enclosed amusement park carnival located in the heart of the Cubao Commercial Center, later replaced by a branch of Shopwise, a local supermarket chain. Meanwhile, the Smart Araneta Coliseum is a venue for concerts as well as sports events. Quezon City is home to the Philippines’ major broadcasting networks. Television companies such as ABS-CBN, RPN, GMA Network, INC TV, UNTV, Net 25, PTV, and IBC all have their headquarters in Quezon City. TV5 also had its headquarters in Quezon City since 1992, but it moved out to Mandaluyong City in 2013. However, its transmitter in Novaliches is still being used and operated by the network. In Novaliches, the Cathay Metal Corporation, the Republic Biscuit Corporation, however due to economic and population humanity reason the Highway of Quirino going to the District had been reduced to two lanes from former four lanes and an island in between, the Uniwide Warehouse Club and Main Office, Man Trucks and Buses, The HATAW Jeepney Assemblers assembling Four Pedalled Vehicle (Rear Brakes Pedal, Front Brakes Pedal, Clutch Pedal and Accelerator Pedal used for Drifting). Tomas Morato and Timog Avenues are the heart of a restaurant and entertainment row with a wide array of prices, cultures, and flavors while Banawe Avenue is dubbed as the “Autoparts Capital of the Philippines” and home to clusters of authentic Chinese restaurants aside from Binondo. The tallest building in the city is a 40-storey Eastwood Parkview located in Eastwood City. Quezon City’s communication system is powered by the duopoly of PLDT and Globe Telecom. Cellular networking in the Philippines, particularly the metropolitan areas, is increasing rapidly together with the low cost of calls and text messaging. Such big companies that control the cellular networks in Quezon City are Globe Telecom-BayanTel and Smart Communications (PLDT)-Sun Cellular from Digitel. Digitel’s main headquarters is located along Eulogio Rodriguez, Jr. Avenue (C-5) in Bagumbayan while that of BayanTel stands along Roosevelt Avenue Eastwood City is a business district developed by Megaworld Corporation in Bagumbayan, Quezon City. Citibank Philippines, IBM Philippines, NEC Philippines, Canon Philippines and Mercury Drug Corporation are some of the companies headquartered in the cyberpark within the district.
