Walking Tour of Intramuros Manila`s historic district

Walking Tour of Intramuros ­ Manila's historic district
After a week of rigorous
training in the Philippines
with Cente for Asia­Pacific
Initiatives (CAPI),
representatives from
regional leaders; Migrant
Forum Asia (MFA) and
Centre for Migrant
Advocacy (CMA) and
many long discussions on
migration, protectionist
policies, Apec and the
counter­Apec rallies,
neoliberalism, gender and
race, it was time to venture
out of Quezon City and
soak in some of the long
history of Manila.
I joined a small group of CAPI interns and Cate
on a hot afternoon for a walking tour of Manila’s
oldest district and historic centre, the walled city
of Intramuros. This meant a slow and bumpy ride
to Metro Manila, about an hour and half away in
the Sunday afternoon traffic. The tour with Carlos
Celdran, who is a cultural activist and performing
artist, is unlike any tour I have ever taken. I feel
the necessity to qualify that I tend to avoid popular
tourist activities and so the most I was expecting
from a walking tour was to visit historic sights that
I might have otherwise missed during this brief
visit and some very general, if glorified, historical
facts of the city.
What I experienced instead was an emotional, unapologetic and entertaining, if
theatrical, performance with Carlos who is immensely knowledgable in Filipino
history and brimming with gritty cultural analyses of the colonization of Manila
by the Spanish, with a pointed look at the role of the Catholic church, and
subsequently by the United States.
We walked through various significant sites in Fort Santiago and were in the
vicinity of other places of interest ­ for one to continue a self­guided tour after
the official walk ­ including Rizal Park, where the Spanish executed Jose Rizal,
Philippines’ national hero. As we ate Choconut and sat overlooking the ancient
city grounds, Carlos unpacked the notion of a national anything being
introduced to the Philippines by the Americans and the iconization and
convenience of mythical heroes. We walked through the very grounds where the
Japanese occupation army massacred tens of thousands of Filipino civilians
during the Second World War and where, American bombs were dropped on
the Japanese army under the guise of halting advancing troops only to kill
thousands more Filipinos; demonstrating the old war tactic of “collateral
damage”, an idea widely uncontested to this day in ongoing wars.
Inside the ancient walls of Intramuros contructed by the Spanish in the 16th century
The tour took us on a
horse carriage ride to the
San Agustin Church,
Manila’s last standing
relic from a glorious
architectural legacy of the
400 years Catholic
Church’s presence. Most
significant cultural sites in
Intramuros were
destroyed in World War
II. Here we got an
interesting lesson on
classical Filipino
architecture as a symbol of
modern local culture ­ a
multi­layered
manifestation of various
cultural influences over
centuries past.
It is a tour I would highly
recommend to any visitors
in Manila, particularly
interns. With it comes the
chance to discover and
support local businesses.
It is an afternoon well
spent and sets the mood
for the brief but exciting
few months that await us
CAPI interns as we
embark on some
thoroughly engaging work
on migrant justice issues;
advocating for the rights
and documenting the
stories of migrant workers'
while deciding to immerse
ourselves as much or as
little as we choose to in
the very fabric of our
countries of placement ­
whether it may be here in
the Philippines or Nepal
as is the case for myself.
Stories of which will be
the subject of many a later
blog entry.
Photos and writing
submitted by Nadya Jamal
San Agustin Church in Intramuros
A few of the 2015/2016 CAPI interns in Intramuros