Tom’s travels in the Philippines

Manila, Luzon Island, Philippines

I arrived in the Philippines in early March 1990. It was not quite as culturally exotic as most other Asian countries but compared to India, where I had just spent 6 weeks, what country would be. English is spoken most everywhere so it has its practical aspects. I would also learn that many local dialects are full of simple Spanish words. The spellings were often strange but one could say something like “Hi, how’s it going friend? How much for a beer? Cheap! Bye” in Spanish and the locals would be asking where one had learned “their” language. The capital city Manila is on the island of Luzon and is large, dirty, hot and while not actually exciting, it did have a number of sites to see. Most interesting was the old quarter built by the Spanish in the 16th century called Intramuros, which was enclosed within high-fortified walls and entered through decorative gateways. It includes the Santiago Fort, lots of churches and cathedrals and the ruin of San Agustin Monastery.

Manila post office

This post office stood out as a typical government building one would see in America from 50 to 100 years ago, built in a classical style. Seems no coincidence that the Philippines were governed by the USA from 1989 – 1946. I never noticed much notable architecture in the Philippines other than what had been left by the Spanish hundreds of years ago. .

Manila cemetary

An unusual attraction in Manila was a large cemetery where many of the local Chinese community were buried. They built huge, elaborate mausoleums, which were literally marble mansions complete with kitchens, toilets, bars etc. Basically they were used as weekend vacation homes. The cemetery had at some point gotten run down and a plaque proclaimed how it was renovated in the 1960’s – the biggest difficultly being in getting rid of the families of squatters who were living there. Compared to the tin shacks of Manila’s millions of poor, these were villas worthy of the rich elite. This is a view inside one such mausoleum.

Cebu Island

From Manila I booked passage on a ship to the island of Cebu. I eventually got to the islands of Negros, Cabilao, Sequijor, Penay, Mindoro, Bohol and Boracay, all of which are in the central part of the Philippines collectively known as the Visayas. There were only about 150 to 200 people on board this ferry which was capable of carrying 1500 and I was the only non-local except for a couple with a first class suite who stayed out of sight the whole trip. I had heard horror stories of getting nothing but fish head soup on such journeys but the food was okay although I had to pick the meat out of the rice and veggies a few times.

Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral

Arriving in Cebu city, I ended up staying at a Catholic Center. It wasn’t a requirement but they asked me if I wasn’t a seminarian. Hah, good guess but not quite. The Spanish had established themselves first in Cebu, which was their capital before it got moved to Manila. They had built a fortification there called Fort San Pedro and again numerous churches. The impressive Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral was across from my accommodation.

Religious images of Mary & Jesus

Inside the Cathedral were women wearing veils kissing and touching the statues with fanatical devotion. Inside and out were lots of kitschy statues, icons, crucifixes and paintings for sale. With the holy family and all of the saints represented, no wonder that one could confuse a monotheistic religion like Catholicism with a belief with multiple gods like Hinduism. Am I the only one to see a resemblance in their colorful, kitschy style of religious memorabilia?

Filippinos love music

Coming out of the fort were these blind musicians I saw playing on the street. I never met a people as amazingly musical as the Filipinos. Once I was on a beach and there were about 15 young Filipinos all of whom could sing well and they passed around a guitar which all of them could play as well. The other thing always asked in the Philippines was to “sing us a song from your country”, and they strongly disliked it when I said I REALLY can’t sing. Like…how about this juggling trick?!…Yeah, but NOW sing us a song! Oh F**k!

This passion for music was reflected in what I saw these street vendors selling – guitars! If you see a good rock band playing in Bangkok, Jakarta or Singapore, chances are that they are Filipinos, many of which work as musicians throughout Asia.

Basilica del Santo Niño de Cebu

Here is the Basilica del Santo Niño de Cebu, first church built by the Spanish in the Philippines. It houses the holy Santo Niño or Baby Jesus relic, which people flock to see. There was also a gallery of old painting glorifying the conquest of the Spanish over the hostile natives who were heathens in need of a good ass kicking and the Catholic religion. One painting showed the Spanish victorious on the battlefield, dead natives at their feet, with a beam of light shining from the heavens. Don’t think they mentioned that the attempts by Ferdinand Magellan lead to his death and following attempts also failed until they sent some cutthroats from Mexico to do the job.

Cabilao and Bohol Islands

From Cebu City I took a bus south to the city of Argao and from there a “pump” boat, a typically Filipino motorized outrigger canoe like shown below, across to the small island of Cabilao which lies just off the coast of Bohol Island. We waited and waited for the boat to leave but more people kept showing up, many with sacks of cement or jerry cans or whatever. By the time we departed, we were way over-loaded and riding low in the water. The sea wasn’t rough but it turned into a 2-hour journey and all of the locals were praying or crying that we would sink. The additional images are of the coast of Cabiao and the habor in Bohol.

Jeepney transportation

A common form of transportation throughout the Philippines is the jeepney. Jeeps were left here by the American military when the country was given independence after the end of the Second World War. They were customized to be very decorative and used like buses to transport people and merchandise. The custom has been well established although many of them are now created from vans and not jeeps. Pimp my ride has nothing on these vehicles which are commonly not just filled to the roof but also on top with people and supplies of all sorts. The first of these jeepney photos was taken on my route across Bohol to the Chocolate Hills.

Negros and Sequijor Islands

From Cabilao, I had to once again take a boat to the main seaport of Bohol called Tagbilaran from where I caught a boat to Dumaguete at the southern tip of Negros Island. I spent a night there in a real dive that advertised “single bed for 2 people for 12 hours”. Ate at a restaurant that had a chicken stall connecting right into the dining area. Guess people could pick out their bird and have it prepared. When my plate of food arrived, there were ants crawling on it and I saw lots of cockroaches in the sink. Next day I continued over to the small island of Siquijor, which was great.

Larena, Sequijor Island

I often made small shows in the market places like in the following photos from the town of Larena, Sequijor Island, or in the evenings at the typical village disco, which would be some Christmas lights strung up at the local school’s basketball court. Surprisingly, the Filipinos are CRAZY about basketball. People always asked me where I was born and when I mentioned Puerto Rico, they ALL knew that the Filipinos beat Puerto Rico in Men’s Basketball at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. For a country of typically small people, I guess this was something to be overly proud of.

Sect on Demaguete Island

After my say on Siquijor I returned to Demaguete but this time I found a more interesting place for a couple of days further south near the town of Zamboanguita. It was a very simple accommodation built on a fantastic piece of land on the seafront called Starship 2000. The picture below shows the reception area. Hanging on the wall were quotes from the founder of this organization (cult!) Father Tropa. The followers wore no shoes, which “destroys the contact to Mother Earth”. They claimed to be into ecology but had lots of animals confined in small cages. When I asked if they were vegetarians, the response was, “no, but we don’t eat dog!” Was a photo of the guru in Pune, India wearing flowing robes so I suspected he had something to do with the Rajneesh Bhagwan sect. The sect members referred to themselves as “lamplighters” suggesting they shed some light on the darkness of this world. Seemed all Filipinos needed desperately to believe in something. It’s  one of those places that during Easter, people have themselves whipped and nailed to a cross to show their devotion.

Salawaki Beach

I actually spent most of my time and ate my meals by the nearby Salawaki resort at Salawaki Beach, not cheap but good food. I remember a group of Koreans there that came in from diving all day, they proceeded to eat an endless banquette of seafood until they could barely stand and then went back out for a night dive. The following photos were from the beach there. I often juggled and entertained the kids who constantly asked to be my “pen-pal” which took me a while to understand as I kept misunderstanding something about being a “pimple”.

Filippinos poor but clean

This was a small kiosk typical in the Philippines. They sold cigarettes, small snacks and drinks and small packets of laundry powder. Looks like a good side job but I wondered how many families survived from such a business alone. In most other countries one would not necessarily find laundry soap in such a place. But I remarked that despite being poor and while their cloths might be well worn, Filipinos were generally very clean. Made me a bit self-conscious as I had been traveling and most of my cloths had gotten pretty grubby.

Across Penay to Boracay Island

From the Spaceship 2000, I blasted off in a jeepney to Demaguete, where I caught another jeepney northwest to the town of Bocolod. Scenery was green and picturesque but dusty and the ride was too bumpy to take photos. Saw a lot of sugarcane being cut with machetes and a smattering of rice plots between groves of bananas and coconut trees. Arrived in Bocolod with my Lonely Planet guide in my hand as I got out of vehicle and a few minutes later I didn’t have it any more so I must have left it behind in jeepney. Stayed a night at the local YMCA before getting a boat over to Iloilo City on the south-eastern coast of Panay Island, then took bus up to the northern most tip to get a boat over to Boracay.

Since I visited Boracay, it has developed into the number 1 tourist destination in the Philippines. Multitudes of hotels, bars and even shopping centers have blanketed the island. Rather than a place to relax, it is now the place to be seen. The simple guesthouses are over shadowed by luxury resorts where one can play golf on a top course. It’s not my idea of where to go in the Third World but it has also been an opportunity for many foreigners to establish a business. A good friend of mine who is a musician has even built a boat there that one can hire. One can see more about his boat and about various activities on Boracay at www.boracay-activities.com

Puerto Galera, Mindoro Island

From Boracay, I took a 6-hour boat ride north on rough seas to get to the town of Roxas on Mindoro Island. Then a bus ride to Calapan and a jeepney to Puerto Galera spent mostly on the roof since it was so crowded. The prices were higher and standards much lower than in Boracay, probably because it is much easier accessed from Manila so lot of Filipinos from the capital came to visit there, often crowding in 5 to a room to split the costs. I had a ratty shack of a bungalow, which was obviously not very secure.

Throughout the Philippines but especially in Puerto Galera. I would be strolling around and come upon some young Filipinos completely drunk and they would want to talk and complain how they were somehow victims and liked to act “crazy shit” and kill foreigners if they aren’t their friend. You could never tell where it would lead and frequently they would have machetes with them. The Filipino fighting arts rely first on weapons and they have 2 targets, the eyes and the testicles so one can forget the idea of a fair fight.

After a couple of days I caught one of the workers trying to break into my bungalow and when I reported it to the owner, she started to threaten me for making up lies. I was feed up anyway with the aggressive atmosphere of the locals and uninterested in the foreigners who seemed to mostly be fat old guys with their either bought or rented local girls, so I wisely left that day before I had someone try to cut my throat. I actually slept out by the beach and caught an early ferry to Luzon and an air-conditioned bus to Manila.

Banaue, Luzon highlands via Manila

I only had 5 days left but didn’t want to hang around Manila so I got a bus the next morning to Banaue in the north central part of Luzon. Getting a seat was difficult and I was worried if I would get back as the Easter season was coming up and lots of Filipinos would be traveling then. There was also a rebel movement active in this region of Luzon while I was there. I was in a bus near Banaue when 3 guys came in carrying automatic rifles.

Terraced rice paddies

Like in most of Asia, the Filipino cuisine is based on rice. There are extensive rice terraces throughout the country and it is said that the highland terraces of Luzon are actually a bigger architectural work than the Great Wall of China. Fish are also stocked in the rice paddies, they are another food source, help fertilize the rice and lower the insect population. And what photo adventure would be complete without some of the workers in the rice fields like the farmer below.

Back in Manila

I spent my last 2 days back in Manila and remember a Japanese guy at the hostel who had come down with malaria. He said he had had it while climbing Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and he would be okay but his fever got out of control and they had to take him to the hospital. It was right before Easter and the papers, in contrast to what I had heard in Banaue, wrote that there would be no cease-fire for the holiday and government troops were having lots of altercations with communist rebels. Most shops and restaurants were closed and I couldn’t send off any last minute postcards like I wanted to before I took a flight to Amsterdam.