A SHARED HISTORY: ALI MALL AND SM CUBAO

Located at the southeast end of Cubao’s commercial district are a couple of landmarks that seem to have
some intertwined history of sorts, sharing a unique history in a place as ever-changing as this area called
Cubao. Both have their start in a period that was known as Cubao’s golden age of sorts as it was then
known as the premier commercial district in the metropolis, then faced a period of decline and are now
going through an age of rejuvenation of sorts as is the area which they are located.
In the midst of all these, it is remarkable to note their resilience in the midst of these changes. Though in
the process, both had to reinvent themselves to meet the challenges these changes brought to Cubao.

If these structures were siblings, Ali Mall would be the older brother. It was named such in honor of boxing
legend Muhammad Ali himself, who a year earlier defeated his bitter rival Joe Frazier at Cubao’s Araneta
Coliseum in the fight dubbed as the “Thrilla in Manila.” It was said that immediately after the October 1,
1975 fight, Jorge Araneta of the Araneta Center approached Ali of his idea of building a mall in the complex
and it would be named after him. While this would have incurred millions of dollars at least Araneta would
have to spend for royalties to use the Ali name, the tough but good-natured Ali allowed Araneta to do so
without having the latter to pay anything. Ali enjoyed the idea reportedly, and thought it was a great
honor to have the mall named after him.

Ali himself would grace the opening of the mall on June 30, 1976, being one of the few structures in the
country named after a person who’s still alive when it was opened. It was indeed an honor, if not a
eyebrow-raising moment for those who believe in “you-should-never-name-something-after-a-guy-
who’s-not-dead-yet.” But perhaps more than that distinction, it is also part of the annals of Philippine
retail history as being one of the pioneering shopping malls in the country, not to mention the first
shopping mall that has air conditioning throughout its 4 levels.

That would naturally make its next door neighbor the younger brother, which would be SM Cubao. Back
when shopping malls were still a dream in the mind of founder Henry Sy, SM Cubao was opened in 1980
as the 3rd department store outlet of SM, back then an emerging brand name but not yet a powerhouse
as it is right now. And in a place where fierce competition among department stores was fierce, SM with
its 4-leveled building was fortunate to have made its mark, rivalling that of its old Cubao rival C.O.D.
The 1990’s was a difficult period for Cubao as its place as a shopping mecca began to fade. As a number
of retail establishments closed down or scaled down their operations, Ali Mall somehow managed to hang
on. But the mall’s patrons began to dwindle as it was beginning to look like only just a shadow of its own
self as its condition deteriorated.

The same is the case for SM Cubao, but under different and interesting circumstances. It shared the same
fate of the other existing standalone SM Department Stores as founder Henry Sy began to focus his
energies on a new passion, promoting a new retailing culture through the shopping mall. Building one
mall after another throughout the metropolis during the 1990’s, SM’s shopping malls eventually became
a factor in the decline of Cubao’s shopping culture, an irony considering SM’s presence there.

The following decade marked the start of an ambitious plan of revitalizing the Cubao commercial district.
Ali Mall was among the first existing establishments to get a makeover which involved a massive change
in the mall’s layout, renovation of the structure itself and other parts like the cinemas.

A recent touch in this ongoing makover is the installation of what is dubbed “Ali art” with artworks mostly
about the man whom the mall was named. A nice touch I might say though somewhat kitschy as far as
some of the art is concerned.

SM Cubao’s redevelopment did not come far behind eventually. Its redevelopment was patterned after
that of SM Makati as SM Cubao sported a new modern exterior, a far cry from the old concrete box that
was a subject of ridicule among some before. It also went into an expansion mode as well as it expanded
to the former parking lot at the back of the department store, as it became an indoor multi-level parking
area on the upper floors and the lower ground level converted into a supermarket, which it did not have
before. More retail tenants were accommodated by the new SM Cubao, especially on the lower ground
level that was designated into an electronics hub.

As part of the aforementioned revitalization campaign in Cubao, a bridgeway was constructed to connect
these two establishments, thus strengthening a colorful and vibrant history these two landmarks of Cubao
have shared.
ARANETA – CUBAO LRT STATION

What’s in a name? stories have it that the commercial district of Cubao was once a jungle inhabited by
white ants, termites, and shape-shifting witches who usually take the form of a hunchback. People who
came across these witches would often say “kuba, o!”, hence the present name.

Araneta, on the other hand, was named after J. Amado Araneta who, along with his son Jorge, envisioned
in the late 1950s that Cubao would be the country’s leading commercial hub.

Excerpt from philstar’s cubao shining moment

The sudden appearance of the Araneta Coliseum in the next year, 1960, would signal Quezon City’s bid to
draw the epicenter of commerce into its otherwise unpromising direction. The brainchild of J. Amado
Araneta, a flamboyant Negros sugar baron with deep political connections, the coliseum would become a
landmark in every sense of the word. Its sheer size (“the world’s largest”) and the founder’s showman
instincts would turn the place and its immediate environs in Cubao into an entertainment and shopping
mecca that in due time eclipsed Quiapo. But Cubao, in turn, would be divested of its central role and
importance by Makati, the upcoming giant development of the Ayalas some 15 kilometers to the south.

For all that, the Sixties belonged to Don Amading Araneta, who dressed all in white down to the shoes but
without socks long before Kokoy Romualdez stole his act. Araneta Center became a commercial gold mine
that antedated and set the stage for the more dazzling feats not only of the Ayalas, but of Henry Sy, John
Gokongwei, Lucio Tan and Andrew Tan. These taipans would push the country into the next gilded age of
shopping malls, real estate frenzy, and high finance.

Simple geography favored Araneta Center. It sat on a vital crossroad where once-forlorn Highway 54 (later
Edsa) intersected with equally forlorn Aurora Boulevard. The 35-hectare property on which the coliseum
was built was contiguous to two major military camps, Murphy (later Aguinaldo) and Crame. Don Amading
purchased it in 1952, sensing its strategic value as an alternative commercial center outside Manila.
The Cubao Period, if we have to call it that, begins and ends with the coliseum that first put it on the
map. Since March 1960, it has been the venue of choice for boxing championship fights, basketball and
cockfighting tournaments, beauty pageants ad nauseam, musical shows featuring foreign artists, and
political conventions.

Don Amading’s populist thrust always sharply contrasted with the Ayalas’ unabashed pandering to the
upwardly mobile and elite crowd. Low coliseum admission prices (one peso for a decade or so) kept
lower and middle class crowds flocking to Cubao.

Looking back, the tide gradually shifted to Cubao around 1966, simply because it was right in the heart
of Quezon City, a shorter 10-centavo ride away (compared with 25 centavos to Quiapo), and it offered
more and more of what attracted people to Quiapo. New Frontier Cinema begun to show first-run films,
followed by Nation Cinerama and Quezon, all comparable to the movie palaces along Rizal Avenue.
Cubao’s restaurant scene boasted of Aristocrat and Eugene’s on the Edsa side. Along Aurora Boulevard,
there was a good Chinese restaurant, Hong Ning, and a branch of Ma Mon Luk of Quiapo dispensing its
iconic siopao and mami.

The star attraction for the young Americanized crowd was A&W, a drive-in restaurant where Farmers
Mall is now located. It gave us teenagers a vicarious taste of California life that would later be celebrated
in the Hollywood film American Graffiti. We loved hamburgers and root beer. The waitresses wheeled
around in roller skates. You could be served at curbside in your car.

Around New Frontier Cinema were two or three smart cafés (one was named Cup and Saucer, the other
was Chocolate House) where young professionals and students congregated in the pre-Starbucks era.
After watching a late-night James Bond film or whatever was playing in the Coliseum, this was the place
to hang out. Or you walked over to Aling Nena’s Bibingka beside Stella Maris College. Beyond A&W,
going south, there were all-night restaurants like Kobe Chicken.

The Cubao area was definitely wholesome and fancier than the raunchy beer parlors and dives on Rizal
Avenue like Luisa & Sons. Makati was mainly corporate country and a lonely outpost for merry-making
until the Intercontinental Hotel and Rizal Theatre were built around 1968.
Cubao shopping approached Escolta standards when Aguinaldo’s opened its branch near the Coliseum.
This upscale department store antedated Rustan’s, which was then marooned in San Marcelino Street at
the edges of Paco, Manila. The high rollers and their pretty daughters were on parade in Aguinaldo’s
lovely shop, which was favorably set off by a lily pond.

What’s been done to save Araneta Center and Cubao from disaster? In fairness, there have been brave,
if intermittent, efforts to breathe new life into Araneta Center. What stands out is the building some five
years ago of the modernistic and well-admired Gateway Mall. A bit too late and too little investment,
some critics say, compared to Ayala’s obsessive multimillion-peso drive not to be upstaged by the high-
powered competition of the Sys and Gokongweis.

But some effort of redemption is preferable to full surrender to the cruel jungle that cannot stop
strangulating Don Amading Araneta’s proud creation and legacy.

For unimpressed observers, Cubao sticks out as a noisy and polluted transportation hub pockmarked
with high-rise developments in apparent denial of the ugly state of perdition all around the area. What I
hear is that even Araneta Center’s franchise as the Manila home of Miss Universe and other glitzy
exercises in irrelevance may not be enough to save a sinking ship. Having known Cubao in its glorious
prime, I can only hope that the naysayers may have spoken too soon.