A People's Park.
The old Iligan public plaza was a landmark that would have been Iligan's premier historical relic today had it not been demolished in 1965 to give way to a more contemporary scheme of park structure.
The plaza, nestled in the heart of the city, was second home to many of us in as many activities conceivable. It was a people's park through and through. Pretty much like a minuscule version of London's Hyde Park, the plaza played host to a thousand and one other forms of leisure for city residents. It was the most popular haven for early morning strollers and Sunday promenaders, a lucrative marketplace for itinerant peddlers and hawkers, and the most affordable destination for lovers' rendezvous. Its vastness offered free air space for us to fly our home-made kites. The benches under the mango and mabolo trees were also the regular venues for family gatherings on moonlit nights. The concrete lamp posts in the park provided kids like us a convenient station for games of catch-and-go. One could never lay claim to being an initiated plaza regular if he had not experienced the "electrifying shock" of his life derived from touching a short-circuited lamp post while at play.
