Major north-south collector road in Parañaque, Philippines
This article is about the road in Parañaque. For the highway in the City of Manila, see Quirino Avenue. For its extension in Las Piñas also known as Quirino Avenue, see Diego Cera Avenue.
Elpidio Quirino Avenue
R-2
Quirino Avenue
View northbound towards the Don Galo bridge in La Huerta
Former name(s)
Calle Real / Camino Real Manila South Road Cavite-Manila South Road Mexico Road
The street starts at the intersection with F.B. Harrison Street, Redemptorist Road and Taft Avenue (Taft Avenue Extension) near Baclaran station, the current terminus of the elevated Manila LRT-1. It travels south across the crowded marketplace of Baclaran, just behind the popular Baclaran Church, and crosses Airport Road into barangayTambo. The street then runs parallel to the Estero de Tripa de Gallina to the east, which serves as Parañaque's border with Pasay, and heads for the junction with NAIA Road and the elevated NAIA Expressway. A few hundred meters south, the road enters the barangay Don Galo and crosses the Parañaque River into the old center (poblacion) of Parañaque called La Huerta. It then curves slightly upon reaching St. Andrew's Cathedral and straightens back as it heads south into barangay San Dionisio. The road intersects with Victor Medina Street near the Kabihasnan Entrance to the Manila-Cavite Expressway and ends just a few hundred meters south as it enters barangay Manuyo Uno in Las Piñas, where it continues as Diego Cera Avenue.
History
Elpidio Quirino Avenue marks the original shoreline of Manila Bay in Parañaque pueblo as it existed during the Spanish colonial period. It forms part of an old Spanish coastal highway that linked the Province of Manila to La Laguna and other southern provinces, with segments later known as Manila South Road. It was called Calle Real or Camino Real (Spanish for "royal street"), which spanned from Ermita to Muntinlupa, Rizal (now part of Metro Manila). Due to its accessibility to Cavite, it was also known as Cavite-Manila South Road, including the present-day Aguinaldo Highway.[2] The road was renamed Mexico Road in 1964, which was designated as "The Year of Philippine-Mexican Friendship."[3][4] It was the location of Camp Dewey, an early U.S. military installation during the Philippine–American War.[5] This "camp in Tambo" was converted into a Philippine Army camp in 1936.[6] However, by 2003, the military camp known as Camp Claudio has been transformed into a housing and urban development site.[7]
Presently, only the Las Piñas and Muntinlupa sections are called Calle Real or Real Street as an alternative name for the road. The Parañaque portion has been renamed Elpidio Quirino Avenue, while those of the City of Manila and Pasay have been renamed Del Pilar Street and F.B. Harrison Street, respectively.