Washington, D.C

How the Luneta inspired US capital—and other PH links to Washington

Published

2 years ago

May 19, 2024

How the Luneta inspired US capital—and other PH links to Washington

PH INFLUENCE ON US A photograph of Luneta taken in the early 20th century. —photos from University of Michigan Library website and Erwin Tiongson

WASHINGTON, DC — Unknown to many, a picturesque national park in Washington, DC that features the iconic Tidal Basin and is widely known for its cherry blossom trees was inspired by Luneta Park in Manila.

US first lady Helen Taft, who had lived in the Philippines while her husband William Howard Taft Luneta Park was civilian governor general in the Philippines, wanted to have a public space in DC similar to Luneta where people could meet for social gatherings. Her husband was elected president of the United States in 1908.

Philippine and US ties first arose after Spain ceded its long-standing colony of the archipelago in 1898. It remained an American colony until the United States recognized its independence in 1946. Years later, Manila would become Washington’s oldest ally in the Indo-Pacific.

READ: Need for mini Luneta parks

During their time in the Philippines in early 1900, the Tafts spent most of their evenings at Luneta Park listening to the popular Philippine Constabulary Band, which would later be invited to Taft’s inauguration parade in DC and the launch of the park itself, the West Potomac Park.

“That Manila could lend anything to Washington may be a surprise to some persons, but the Luneta is an institution whose usefulness to society in the Philippine capital is not to be overestimated,” the first lady wrote in her memoir, “Recollection of Full Years,” published in 1914.

Connected histories

For Georgetown University professor Dr. Erwin Tiongson, a Nueva Vizcaya native now based in DC who describes himself as a community historian, this is just one of the many ways that illustrate how the Philippines and the United States in the US capital are deeply intertwined.

Tiongson and his family have spent the last 12 years digging up these kinds of stories for a passion project—dubbed as the Philippines on the Potomac—but it has been turning into an educational resource that people may look back on.

Just last year, he published a book called “Philippine-American Heritage in Washington, D.C.” that contains some of those stories they have so far discovered that traces the connected histories of the two nations along the streets of DC, which are often overlooked and rarely found in textbooks.

PH INFLUENCE ON US A 1910 postcard of West Potomac Park in Washington, DC. Georgetown

“When we started this project 12 years ago, in a way, we started it because we wanted something for our children,” Tiongson recently told Filipino journalists participating in a reporting tour hosted by the US Embassy in Manila.

“If you want to characterize this project that we’ve been leading, it’s an effort to find our older home right here where we live …. We were trying to find traces of our older home right around us,” said the professor, who first moved to the United States in the 1990s.

PH ‘executive experience’

Tiongson said his discoveries over the years have made him realize how Philippines-US relations became “mutually transformative.”

“I was taught to believe that the US basically created institutions in the Philippines. The derogatory term is sometimes, ‘civilized the Philippines,’” he said.

But the United States did not start as a centralized government, and it was their colonial experience in the Philippines that taught them how to run a country, he pointed out.

“In fact, some people call the Civil War the war of the states because some states wanted certain things, including slavery, and others did not. Imagine if that was the context, and then suddenly, in 1901, they were running a country, our country, and they were also designing for the first time programs that would later become part of their federal government here,” he said.

“It’s not like they taught the Philippines how to create institutions in a way that colonial experience taught them how to create institutions. It’s been mutually transformative that many people acquired important experience in the Philippines, which they brought back to the US and changed their way of life here,” he added.

Taft, for instance, became president of the United States “on the strength of his executive experience in the Philippines,” he said.

Tiongson and his family have been conducting free walking tours around DC over the last decade for small groups of professionals, students and even diplomats, to guide them around sites that display the cultural heritage of Philippine-American ties.

PH INFLUENCE ON US. University professor Dr. Erwin Tiongson said Luneta as an inspiration and model for the DC park is just one of many Philippine “traces” on Washington’s experience in its colonial administration of the country.

“We do it pro bono, so we don’t charge anybody. It’s just to raise awareness of all these aspects of Philippine-American history,” he said.

As part of the tour, he brings along all the artifacts he has collected, from postcards to photos and other memorabilia to show his guests.

They have identified over 100 sites in DC that showcase those Philippine-American cultural links. For instance, the Bataan Street NW was to honor the Filipino and American troops captured on the Bataan Peninsula by the Japanese during World War II. Manuel Quezon, who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, lived on K Street where he was exiled. At the time, he was a nonvoting member of the US Congress as resident commissioner.

With the help of the Philippine Embassy in the United States, they have developed a map for a self-guided tour for these sites in DC.

There are many more stories waiting to be told. Tiongson estimated that his book only represents a fifth of all the stories he and his family have gathered over the years.

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“The work never stops. I’ve been telling friends, I teach economics at Georgetown, if I retire now and if all I do is to write about everything I found, I will never finish. That’s how much materials we have,” he said.

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Washington, D.C

Lime updates subscription service for frequent riders in DC – WTOP News

Published

11 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Lime updates subscription service for frequent riders in DC – WTOP News

Lime, the company behind those bright green scooters and bikes you may often see zooming around D.C. or lying on the sidewalk, is updating its monthly subscription service, aimed at making rides more affordable for its frequent users.

In a news release Tuesday, Lime said its monthly subscription that starts at $5.99/month for D.C. riders will also introduce flat-rate pricing of $2.50 for rides up to 20 minutes and $1.25 for rides under five minutes.

Every ride will be subject to a flat rate, instead of a per-minute cost. Subscribed members also get unlimited free unlocking and discounted flat-rate pricing for trips under five minutes.

Devin Rote, the global integrated marketing lead at Lime, told WTOP the goal with the update is “to make the choice to utilize micro-mobility and more sustainable travel options easier for users across the D.C. region.”

Rote said as we enter the spring season, Lime sees an increase in trips as the city also sees a rise in tourism.

“Especially through cherry blossom season, Nationals baseball season, and everything that a great, warm weather season brings here in the D.C. region. For us, really, this is the start of busy season,” he said.

There are over 7,000 of the dockless e-bikes and scooters around D.C. They go up to 18 mph — down from 20 mph in November — and users must be at least 18 to ride.

WTOP’s John Wordock contributed to this report.

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Washington, D.C

A Virginia boater is suing a DC utility for the Potomac River sewage spill

Published

23 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

A Virginia boater is suing a DC utility for the Potomac River sewage spill

A Virginia boater is suing a Washington water utility for negligence in the collapse of a pipe that leaked millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River.

The class action lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, comes weeks after a January sewage pipe collapse, shooting wastewater out of the ground and into the river in an area just north of Washington, D.C. The spill is seen as a serious environmental blight and became the focus of political bickering between President Donald Trump and Democratic-led Maryland, where the leak occurred.

Dr. Nicholas Lailas, M.D., the plaintiff, is a Virginia resident and recreational boat user on the Potomac who is seeking compensation for people “whose property interests in and use and enjoyment of the Potomac River … have been impaired by Defendant’s conduct.”

The lawsuit alleges that it was DC Water’s responsibility as the owner and operator of the ruptured pipe, known as the Potomac Interceptor, to maintain it in a “reasonably safe condition and to prevent foreseeable harm to persons and property.”

The lawsuit said that preliminary data indicate that there are thousands of people who own property or vessels in the affected parts of the Potomac.

Andrew Levetown, an attorney for the plaintiff, said in an interview Monday that it will take time to get the full breadth of the class, with business owners, property owners and recreational users all having interest in the potential damages caused by the Jan. 19 collapse and leak.

“You’re going to have businesses who lose business because instead of sitting next to the Potomac, their clients are sitting next to the open sewer,” he said.

The suit did not specify a damage amount. DC Water spokesperson John Lisle said in a statement that the collapse of the Potomac Interceptor was “a serious and unexpected event, and our teams remain focused on the response, environmental protection, and restoration efforts. Because this matter is currently subject to ongoing litigation, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this time.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared an emergency Feb. 18 and requested that President Donald Trump provide federal resources to help the city fight the leak that dumped 250 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River in its early stages. The president approved the emergency assistance days later to help the city address the emergency.

DC Water gave its most detailed assessment yet of why the Potomac River sewage spill occurred and what it will take to fix it. News4’s Mark Segraves reports.

DC Water said it knew the pipe, first installed in the 1960s, was deteriorating, and rehabilitation work on a section about a quarter-mile (400 meters) from the break began in September and was recently completed. The pipe that ruptured was scheduled for repair this summer.

DC Water’s updates say the emergency repairs are beyond the halfway point and there are no flows into the river.

At a public briefing last week, officials with the utility said they were assessing the cause of the rupture, including whether the way the pipeline was initially constructed contributed to the emergency. David Gadis, the CEO of DC Water, said at that briefing that while it was too early to say definitively, “we are seeing indication that this incident may have been highly unusual.”

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Washington, D.C

Route for Freedom 250 Grand Prix in DC debuted at the National Mall

Published

1 day ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Route for Freedom 250 Grand Prix in DC debuted at the National Mall

WASHINGTON — Get ready to start your engines, DC.

Officials unveiled the 1.66-mile circuit route Monday, where race cars will be zooming around the National Mall in August for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in celebration of America’s birthday.

The seven‑turn layout features views of the Washington Monument, US Capitol, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and part of Pennsylvania Avenue, IndyCar announced.

“This was a team effort,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. “It’s Penske, it’s FOX, it’s the mayor, it’s Interior, it’s everybody else joining together not to make a profit, not to get your name out there but to say, let’s celebrate America.”

“Let’s celebrate America’s birthday.”

The first-ever street race around the National Mall will take place from Aug. 22-23, with the course itself set to be built up during the summer.

Drivers will also blast past the National Archives, the National Gallery of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum, with a pit lane on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Officials debuted a red, white, and blue “Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar” design Monday to honor the upcoming 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

“We want people to plan their trips to D.C. now,” DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said. “Come for the Freedom 250, and then stay to enjoy our monuments and museums, our beautiful parks, world-class restaurants and hotels, and all the culture and entertainment that make us the best city in the world.”

President Trump took executive action back in January, tasking Duffy and Secretary of the Interior Sean Duffy to coordinate with Bowser on planning the feted event.

“The story of America is one of vision, courage, perseverance – and speed,” Monica Crowley, Trump’s representative for America’s 250th, said in a statement.

“Presidents Washington and Jefferson marked notable celebrations with spirited horse races; the Freedom 250 race will bring that historic tradition into the 21st century and renew a tremendous sense of patriotic pride.”

Trump’s team is eyeing other major sports events to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, including a UFC fight at the White House. The US is also co-hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup over the summer.

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