Wazzup Pilipinas!
Like a lowly caterpillar wrapping itself in a cocoon with the hope of one day emerging into a beautiful butterfly, so is the vision for the long-abandoned Metropolitan Theater which fell into disrepair and left covered in dirt and rust after an ownership dispute five years ago.
Not much is left of the theater's former grandeur after decades of erosion and abuse. Its colors have faded with time. Graffiti were painted along its arcades and glass shards and pieces of broken tiles have reduced this once renowned monument into an urban ruin.
The theater’s bid to regain its former glory was not lost to some employees who volunteered recently for #METamorphosis, a clean-up and restoration campaign also participated in by UST College of Architecture students and several other individual volunteers. The main goal -- to clear the theater’s arcades, trim the surrounding grass, sweep the scattered debris, and collect trash – jobs which the volunteers happily accomplished.
Lyber Taruc was one of the volunteers whose interest in the arts led him to help in the restoration drive. “Although it will definitely take time for the theater to be completely restored, I still believe that if we make an effort to save this piece of cultural heritage -- one that has witnessed the growth of Filipino Art over the years -- perhaps one day, we can witness its complete metamorphosis unfold,” he said.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
