Holy Week a great time to get reacquainted with Manila: cultural activist

With the metro experiencing a temporary drop in population density thanks to the Holy Week exodus to the provinces, this would be a great time to visit several places in Manila you normally wouldn't go to due to the crowds, said tour guide, cultural activist and Manila tourism consultant Carlos Celdran.

“I like seeing Manila during this time kasi parang ibang bansa...walang traffic,” he said in an interview on GMA's “News to Go” on Wednesday. “It feels like you're abroad in the City of Manila. So I'm going to take this time to go to places I do not usually go to.”



Visita Iglesia

Those who want to take part in the Visita Iglesia—the Roman Catholic tradition of visiting seven churches during Holy Week, usually on Maundy Thursday—can do so in Manila, said Celdran.

“I recommend visiting the Manila Cathedral and all the churches of Intramuros that are still there and in downtown Manila,” he said.

Celdran recommends that devotees “follow the ring of churches” in and around the old city for Semana Santa, starting at Malate Church and proceeding to Ermita Church, San Agustin Church, Manila Cathedral, Binondo Church, Santa Cruz Church, and Quiapo Church before ending at San Sebastian Church.

Celdran, who joked that he had a “special relationship” with Manila Cathedral, pointed out that the basilica is newly renovated, with new air-conditioning, sound and lighting systems. He also recommended visiting the newly restored City Hall, or Ayunamiento ng Manila, nearby.

“If you go there, it's really a beautiful, picturesque scene,” he said.
 

A perfect time for bicycle rides

With fewer cars on the road, this would be a great time to go biking in and around the metro, said Celdran. He suggested visiting cemeteries—which sounds “scary,” he acknowledged. But these quiet places are great for reflection and contemplation.

“American Cemetery in Fort Bonifacio kung taga Makati ka, North Cemetery, La Loma [Cemetery], the Chinese Cemetery—these are wonderful places to go,” he said, pointing out that they had chapels, lots of grass and trees, and fresh air.

Celdran also suggested places outside the National Capital Region, such as Montalban in Rizal and Antipolo, but said that this is a great time to be in Manila, to “go to places where you cannot usually access during the usual times kasi ma-traffic. This is a very good time to start biking around Manila—[in] Chinatown...Intramuros.”

Especially since good deals can be found, even after Holy Week. While the Metropolitan Museum of Manila will be closed from April 17 to 19, on Tuesday, April 22, there will be free tickets to people who arrive on bikes in honor of Earth Day.

Intramuros Pasyal

Celdran is part of an organization called VivaManila, which is about “reinventing and reviving public spaces in Luneta, Intramuros and Escolta,” he said. The group's flagship project is Intramuros Pasyal, which closes Intramuros to cars one Sunday a month. For this month, the event will be held on April 27.

“On April 27, Intramuros' main thoroughfare, walang kotse," said Celdran. “We will have a street fair. You can bring your bicycle, you can bring your kids, and [there will be] a special program with performance art and dance at night.”

Saturday Future Market

On some Saturdays, the arts organization 98b Collaboratory holds an art market on the ground floor of the First United Building in Escolta, Binondo. This event, said Celdran, is “a market where the vendors are the artists.”

98B and Celdran will also be collaborating on a tour of Escolta and Quiapo on April 26.

Roxas Boulevard renovation

During the interview, Celdran also revealed Manila's plans for Roxas Boulevard next year in time for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The city will work with architect Paulo Alcazaren and the Departments of Tourism and Public Works and Highways for the following renovations:

• Bike lanes. The city will create bike lanes on Roxas Boulevard through Luneta and all the way inside Intramuros leading to Chinatown. “We're trying to create a belt that will connect the CCP [Cultural Center of the Philippines] hanggang sa Binondo,” said Celdran.
• Greening the Baywalk. The city will be planting indigenous, seawater-resistant plants on Roxas Boulevard's Baywalk.
• Making plazas more event-friendly. “Aayusin nila yung mga plaza na may statue so that you can hold smaller events that are plaza-based, katulad ng open-air market, katulad ng tiangge," said Celdran.
• New street lamps. The boulevard's unsightly, energy-inefficient lamps will be replaced with what Celdran called “LED, solar-friendly, very minimalist lamps.”

 

This flurry of activity, a collaboration between cultural activists like Celdran and organizations like VivaManila and 98B, government agencies, and experts like Alcazaren, is being done to bring “the real soul” of Manila back by developing public spaces, particularly those in downtown Manila such as Escolta, Intramuros and Luneta.

“If we protect our public spaces, we show the world we Filipinos respect one another,” said Celdran. “If Filipinos only try to push for controlled, guarded malls and spaces, it shows that Manileños and Filipinos are afraid of one another—that we only want to be among our own kind and keep other parts of society out.

“We have to make extra effort to protect and develop our public spaces.” — Barbara Marchadesch/VC, GMA News