CEBU, Philippines - In the age of online shopping, there still exists a very slow form of retail trade that has retained its charm from a century ago. And it's vanishing.
Cattle-drawn caravans of handicrafts from Pangasinan used to be a common sight in Manila and other cities in Luzon. Now they are down to a handful, relegated to areas outside Manila that still tolerate slow-moving carts loaded with rattan and bamboo furniture.
The tradition has evolved in pockets of the big city where descendants of viajeros from Pangasinan now use motorized carts, and sometimes a bicycle.
Howie Severino and his documentary team shadow a few of these traditional salesmen as they ply their dying trade, and find in their struggles tales of simple virtues and stubborn resistance to change in the face of pressures to automate and speed up everything.
Join Howie Severino as he journeys through the streets of Silang and Manila with the last ‘Viajeros’ in I-Witness, 11:30 pm, after Saksi on GMA-7. (FREEMAN)