Emma Gutierrez -- A Pioneer Planner

Recently my sister and I had the pleasure of being escorted in the Philippines by a pioneer and innovator in planning, Emmanuela Gutierrez. Emma is from a city called Batangas, about a two hour drive south of the capital Manila via expressways. Batangas is a city of over 300,000 and Emma was the City's first planning director and developed it's first general plan. And that general plan is unlike most I've seen in the U.S.


Emma came to planning from a teaching background. However, through the efforts of ex-dictator Fernidan Marcos and a U.S. aid agency, a decree was issued that Philippine cities be comprehensively planned so a training program was established. As a new friend said to me in Manila, "For all the bad things you can say about Marcos, he did do some innovative things."

Emma said the hours involved in that program are more than what is done in planning schools today. I can see why. Pictured above is today's Planning Director, Januario B. Godoy. He is holding the current General Plan, currently undergoing revision for the third time since it's creation. Their plan covers much more than land use. It includes: economics, social (including health and education), environmental protection, infrastructure, utilities, and development administration (implementation).

Pictured below, Emma and Januario are holding the first fruits of her efforts, Batangas first General Plan, published in 1978.
It has been almost 20 years since Emma left the Philippines but everyone at Zoning and all over the Planning and Development Office seemed to know her.

The reason for Emma to take the trip was to celebrate with her classmates the 50 year reunion of their high school graduation. My sister and I tagged along to be part of the party and get introduced to a part of our background we have never experienced. There were around 300 people celebrating for a week going from one function to the next. In this picture Emma is with one of her classmates of the 1959 Batangas High School graduating class, the Honorable Eduardo B. Dimacuha, mayor of Batangas. This party was an outdoor event on a farm featuring a barbecued cow and two pigs as well as bands and entertainers. Oh, and we all got these fragrant leis.