Hip hip hooray for historical tours

Domestic tourism has never been so vibrant, perhaps because Filipinos are finding that they can afford to set aside part of their disposable income for travel. Also, travel by air has become so much cheaper that even our household help are choosing this mode nowadays.

Perhaps also, the quality of our tours, especially those that are handled professionally by group tour operators, have become more interesting and relevant. Then again, we are seeing more of the second generation balikbayans coming home for a visit, but including educational/historical tours in their itinerary.

While the domestic tourism industry itself is not yet lucrative, the earnings from the peak months usually during the ‘ber months going into summer are often just sufficient to tide over operations during the rainy season when even foreign tourists are not enough.

Guided tours such as Carlos Celdran’s Classic Intramuros Walking Tour or even Sun Cruises’ Corregidor Island Tour are giving a fresh breath to our tourism efforts, and funny enough, it is the foreign tourists’ glowing reviews that often become the reason for locals to take the trip.

Giving the past a twist

For Carlos Celdran, the passion that moves him to conduct his three-hour monologue almost daily seems to be a personal crusade to impart his version of the history of the Philippines using Intramuros-Fort Santiago-San Agustin Church as a stage.

Heavily tinged with drama and sarcasm, Celdran narrates our country’s history with enough tension and theatrical conflict that makes listening to the Spaniards’ invasion, to the selling out to the Americans, and onwards through the Japanese occupation not at all boring as most history classes are wont to be.

Celdran’s tours are more expensive than those offered by the karitela kutseros, but definitely more thought-provoking. Some facts may be a bit difficult to swallow since they contradict with what most of us have read in history books, but this has a way of making one question and research other literature on Philippine history.

It’s good that the Department of Tourism somewhat endorses Celdran’s historical tours by putting it on its itsmorefuninthephilippines.com site. It’s certainly a gem that deserves to be supported, even if it’s just through this simple gesture of help by our government.

Ruins that speak

Sun Cruises, owned by shipping tycoon Doris Magsaysay-Ho, is also another zealous partner of the government which deserves support and encouragement.

Originally just one of the ferry operations that brought foreign and local tourists to the island fortress of Corregidor, Sun Cruises had subsequently taken a bigger role in promoting the island by offering well-organized tours with substantial commentaries.

Of course, Corregidor itself speaks of so many heart-touching stories that can be seen in the heavily bombed barracks of soldiers, the Malinta tunnel air raid shelter, the big guns, and the Americans and Filipinos who surrendered to the Japanese invaders 72 years ago on May 6.

The silent remains of pock-marked walls, guns, ruins, and even the Japanese garden are now better appreciated, thanks to the guides on the “tranvia” that ferry the tourists around the island nicknamed “The Rock.”

Corregidor Foundation

Corregidor Island today, under the stewardship of the government-led Corregidor Foundation, is already a shadow of what it was during the days when the Philippine Navy was still in charge of this important historical site.

The foundation has gotten rid of early looters and scavengers that were pillaging metal doors, rails and mortars, personal effects of American and Japanese soldiers left after the surrender, even the salvageable military supplies.

A road system was rebuilt in place of the useless tranvia rails. The remaining big guns were well coated with paint to give them protection from the sun, rain and corrosion. And appropriate signs and markers are now visible to the island visitors to supplement the information that the tour guides give.

Reliving the past

Manila may no longer be the lustrous Pearl of the Orient of pre-war days after having been heavily bombed by the Americans when they were retaking the city from the Japanese imperial forces, but it holds so many other treasures that can mesmerize us.

There are so many other monuments that hold grand stories about who Filipinos are, what they value, how they love and how they live. We need more walking tours that will tell about the rich history of the Philippines that had been woven into over 300 years of Spanish rule, less than half a century of American colonization, even the few brief flirtation of the Japanese occupation.

Thankfully, we have been able to preserve and put some dignity in Intramuros and Corregidor. But there are many other areas in Manila and even in such key cities like Cebu that have their own unique and spectacular stories to tell.

We may not have grand castles where kings and queens laden with heavily brocaded robes and fine gold and precious stones lived, but we can also speak with pride about the gentleness of Filipinos during peace time and about the fierceness and valor when facing aggressors.

Help needed

Organizations like Corregidor Foundation are working hard to restore the country’s historical legacy to some acceptable level of decency. As always, funding is a problem even in the day-to-day upkeep and operations.

There is still so much to be done to restore Corregidor to even a fraction of respectability, although things are progressing even if at a slow pace. The lights and sounds show in the Malinta Tunnel, for example, needs to be improved.

The same is true with Intramuros, both inside the walled city and outside, where many important historical parts are continuously battling the effects of pollution, water encroachment, and ageing.

One way to help is to support these tours that are able to generate income for the daily operations and maintenance. If there are companies that are looking for projects, such and similar historical landmarks need support.

And yes, we need more Celdrans and Sun Cruises.

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