I once met a lawyer at Starbucks Alpap 1, L.P. Leviste Street in Salcedo Village, Makati. What I noticed about the area is the park opposite it. Parks are rare in Makati City and in Metro Manila in general so I was really surprised. It’s not as big as the Ayala Triangle Park but it’s located in a busy portion of Salcedo Village, Makati.
I later learned that it was the Salcedo Park, now known as Jaime C. Velasquez Park. It’s within the former Salcedo Village (now Bel-Air Village). It’s bordered between Tordesillas and L.P. Leviste Streets as well as Velasquez and Toledo Streets. From the Ninoy Aquino monument along Ayala Avenue and if you’re coming from EDSA, you have to turn right to Paseo de Roxas. Then you have to turn left to Sedeno Street. After 2 blocks, you need to turn right again at Leviste Street.
The place is nice – complete with children’s playground. I hope more pocket parks like this would be maintained and created in Metro Manila to serve as a place of refuge from this busy urban life.
There’s a marker that introduce who Jaime C. Velasquez is and it reads:
Jaime C. Velasquez Park
Dedicated to the memory of Col. Jaime C. Velasquez (1907-1979), one of the chief implementors in the development of the Makati Central Business District and its environs. Before his retirement from Ayala Corportion in 1973, he served in various capacities as a director and later consultant of the Company, as vice president and director of Ayala Securities Corporation, the Makati Development Corporation and San Lorenzo Company. He was also the first president of the Ayala Avenue-Paseo de Roxas Association, the forerunner of the Makati Commercial Estate Association. Col Velasquez will be remembered for his many achievements and his dedication to the fulfillement of a vision.
