Somewhere between a State University annex and a mall on Padre Faura lies a gem of a place that once smelled of musty books, intellectual revolution, with just a whiff of pipe tobacco — Solidaridad Bookshop.
The venerable institution founded by National Artist for Literature F. Sionil José is now reportedly up for sale. Yes, you heard it right. One of the last remaining sanctuaries for serious readers, thinkers, and literary misfits is now potentially going the way of Betamax and honest politicians.
True or not, to say Solidaridad was “just a bookstore” is like saying José Rizal was “just a blogger.” This was the grand salon of the intelligentsia, the haven of bespectacled bookworms, bearded professors, anti-establishment poets, and foreign culture vultures who were brave enough to get lost in Ermita.
In its heyday, Solidaridad wasn’t merely a shop — it was a cerebral battlefield, a café without overpriced coffee, a United Nations assembly for footnotes and radical thought.
F. Sionil José didn’t just stock books; he curated cultural rebellion. On its shelves rested the tomes that sparked debates, lit revolutions, and, occasionally, gathered dust. You didn’t go to Solidaridad for Twilight or TikTok merch. You went for rare volumes on Southeast Asian politics, obscure Marxist tracts, and dense postcolonial essays that could make your nose bleed by page five. It was a place where people spoke in syllabi and punctuated their arguments with footnotes.
But, alas, the world has changed. People now get their literature from reels and memes. Why read Noli Me Tangere when you can just binge the teleserye? Why wander through Solidaridad’s labyrinthine corridors when Shopee can deliver your self-help book in six hours? And why discuss revolutionary ideas face-to-face when you can argue with trolls in the comments section of a news article?
Now, the shop is reportedly up for sale, and one cannot help but imagine the horror of it being converted into a milk tea joint or, worse, a vape shop. Imagine the ghosts of literary giants grumbling as their hallowed ground is invaded by customers asking for “wintermelon with pearls.”
Of course, there are whispers of hope—maybe a rich benefactor or a cultural agency with a soul will swoop in and preserve the shop. But who are we kidding? In a country where history textbooks are thinner than fast food menus, the odds aren’t exactly stacked in favor of intellectual preservation.
Still, maybe there’s poetic justice in the possible demise of Solidaridad. After all, F. Sionil José himself was a writer who chronicled social injustice, cultural apathy, and the death of ideals. Perhaps his bookstore’s twilight is simply the last, painful metaphor — proof that in the age of instant gratification, the long read has become an endangered species.
So, if you’re rich, cultured, and possibly insane, this is your chance. Buy it. Save it. Or at least turn it into a bar with a required reading list. But if Solidaridad does fade into memory, let us at least pause, light a metaphorical candle (or kindle), and remember the little shop that dared to take ideas seriously.
Because once upon a time in Manila, books had a home. And it wasn’t a cloud storage.