Biyahe'ng 1081

Trust TURISMO PARA KAY LENI to come up with creative tours!

I was invited to one with popular historian/ content creator/ writer/ researcher/ resource person Professor Xiao  Chua who was conducting a Martial Law tour aptly named like my post's title.  The tour was designed specifically for students and for non-Leni supporters so they can learn the truth about proclamation 1081. The concept was brilliant! Those millenials being targeted as possible sitting duck potential voters for the dictator's son could travel around the city's oft-ignored landmarks learning the real facts as opposed to what has been fed them through apps like TikTok or YouTube which was the real plan of Marcos apologists after all...

Participants to the tour were instructed to meet at the CCPs Harbor Square early on a Tuesday morning.  While waiting for assembly and registration to be completed, we were treated to a breakfast buffet where introductions and backgrounders to the tour were explained. By the time registration was completed, all the participants had been packed in two vans and the organizers took to their vehicles to form a convoy that will weave its way all over town.

Coconut Palace

I was interested because I lived through Martial Law! I wanted to see if there was anything else I needed to strengthen my personal knowledge of what it was like. These millenials know nothing! NOTHING! That's why I'm sad about our educational system. I mourn for our sloppy curriculum. I cringe at our deteriorating educational standing in the international scale. We were the most highly educated nation a few decades back... what happened to our youth? There are still brilliant students out there, undoubtedly.  But now, they are more the exception than the rule.

Tour participants at theCoconut Palace

Since we were already at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, we made a few stops at the Coconut Palace and the Manila Film Center. Bourne out Imelda Marcos'  edifice complex, these two buildings are tangible examples of madam's excessive need to be recognized as the real power behind the presidential seal. Anything she wanted got built! The Coconut Palace was to be the jewel of what state of the art construction and design can become when they meet the Pinoy creative spirit. I was nevertheless, turned down by Pope John Paul II. He opted to stay at thePapal Nuncio during his first visit to the Philippines. It was Brooke Shields, George Hamilton and Libyan strongman Muamar Al Ghaddafi who actually stayed in the Coconut Palace as personal guests of the First Lady. Coconut Palace is now managed by the Government Service Insurance System.

Manila Film Center

Meanwhile, The center of cinematic expression in the country fell into controversy while it was under construction. The Manila Film Center was to be the venue for the very first Manila International Film Festival.  A few days before opening night, the third level of the building collapsed while the quick drying cement started to set. It  entombed workers and some of their families in a blanket of concrete and sludge. Although Imelda tried to hide the fiasco, the international journalists got wind of the disaster and went to press with the story. At least two hundred souls are forever trapped in a massive  tomb inspired by the Parthenon. 

Biyahe'ng 1081 at Manila Film Center

On my part, it was like re-living my youth. I was tapped to perform for some of these events organized by Madam Marcos. I have been a dance scholar of CCP. My adulting took place in her "Tribute to the Filipino Spirit." Fortunately, my education and indoctrination as both blue eagle and "iskolar ng bayan" prepared me for a whole lot of critical thinking. My personal biases aside, I recall how in rallies during the snap elections when  Ballet Philippines would be tapped to take part in the sorties, the dancers would show up in yellow t-shirts. Much to the dismayof Tita King Kasilag. 

Prof. Xiao at EDSA Shrine

The party then moved to the EDSA Shrine where Prof. Xiao regaled the youth with stories of the miracle at EDSA where the masses were able to liberate themselves from the twenty year dictatorship. Too bad, Enrile has now become a turn-coat. What a sell-out! Factual commentaries on the Enrile and Ramos tandem that bluffed their way to victory peppered with Xiao's uncanny mimmicry of President Marcos were so easily relatable. The shrine also is a collaborative effort among artists who supported the People Power Movement. We admired and appreciated all the artwork donated to the EDSA shrine until the noon bells in the carillon chimed and it was time to move to the adjacent EDSA Monument at the corner of Camp Crame. There was motley pro-Duterte group hanging out in the area but we paid no mind to them as we were more focused on the Eduardo Castrillo designed monument celebrating the People Power Movement.

EDSA Monument

Lunch was at the Bantayog ng Mga Bayani. We were welcomed by Ms Susan Macapuag who shared her experiences with us as an original member of University of the Philippines' First Quarter Storm Movement . This was an eye-opening talk as to how the millenials are duped into supporting Marcos Jr.'s move to run for the presidency. The Marcos family could not let go of their hold on political power and their desireto vindicate the Marcos surname sullied by hundreds of cases filed against them world-wide. Sir Clarence Aytona, one of the organizers would interject with his personal experiences coming from a political dynasty now so disillusioned with their Marcos connections in the past. This makes for an interesting commentary. It's FACTUAL, but since it's also a personal experience, it's so close to home that almost sounds like gossip. The Martial Law museum is a heart-rending curated collection of memorabilia that captures the horrors of detention in military camps, or death by torture and triumph in the midst of hopelessness. That makes the Biyahe'ng 1081 unique.

Ms Susan Macapuag of Bantayog ng mga Bayani

Final stop was Palma Hall at UP Diliman. This was where Xiao explained the student protests in the '80s. Students were just so angry at all the injustice happening around the country that prompted them to be critical of government. Walk-outs, marches, oblation runs, and lantern parades became an expression of protest and disdain for a government that people did not deserve. The student leaders were missing, kidnapped, tortured and killed. indignation rallies were the thing! Military personnel and cops were duped and outsmarted by the Iskos and Iskas as they evaded arrest. But people who were hungry for change had started to give way to aggression and anger leading to an end of two decades of tyranny.

Palma Hall

The day was capped with certificates handed out by Xiao and Turismo Para Kay Leni. Merienda was provided by Sen. Risa Hontiveros and the day ended with the van service taking us to Centris so we could all go home with memories re-lived or new knowledge to treasure so we and our youth will never forget!!!

Clarence Aytona, Anne Cusi, Jaison Yang, Prof. Xiao Chua, Dondi Ocampo

TICKLED PINK BY TURISMO PARA KAY LENI

Displaced tour guides who volunteered for the Pink Tour

The election season is in full swing! But for some candidates, campaigning for votes started way way early. I guess it isn't  surprising given that some candidates really have nothing going for them but a political surname, wads of cash, and a lackluster career in government. Given all that, there is but one candidate that stands out as the most qualified from the rest.

The Pink turistas in front of  the Manila Cathedral

This isn't a political endorsement! I don't have millions of followers on my blog and this blog page isn't even monetized. So why am I even writing this? Aside form being the most qualified, she's the only one who even bothered to care about us as displaced workers in the hospitality industry. Most politicos grandstanding at the height of the pandemic would ocassionally mention drivers, laborers, teachers and other occupations deemed "under the radar" (nasa laylayan, in pinoy terms) no one thought of displaced tour guides.

Leni/Kiko campaign give-aways

So, I was mildly surprised when I received an invite to a zoom  consultative meeting on the plight of us non-working tour guides. Some of them were forced to take on other jobs out of a need for survival. I was lucky to have been given some cash assistance by the Department of Tourism and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts. Though grateful for their aid, I wasn't exactly sure if I should use them for basic necessities or save the cash for the rainy days. I had been jobless for two years or longer. We  are always the first to feel the effects of pandemics, coup d'etats, natural calamities or economic crunches.

Participants at San Agustin

Then came TURISMO PARA KAY LENI. JB Halig Quemado, also a displaced guide asked if I would be interested to guide in Intramuros for supporters of VP Leni Robredo. I emphatically said yes without even considering a fee. And so on the appointed afternoon, I showed up at Fort Santiago in a pink shirt to meet the participants. I was surprised to find the event had been organized by tour operators who are reeling from the quarantine. Operations for both inbound  and outbound tours had been stalled since March of 2020. But like me, they believed that only Leni had a concrete, workable solid platform on tourism.

Doing my commentary at Plaza Roma

I was stationed at Plaza Roma to give my commentary on the site. It was a well-attended tour for volunteers and Leni/Kiko supporters. There were Higantes to kick start the long parade of pink-clad supporters, and marching drum and bugle band to boot. The itinerary included Fort Santiago, Plaza Roma, Plazuela de Sta. Isabel, Baluarte de San Diego, San Agustin and ending in Plaza San Luis where light snacks were to be served. By the time the entire group had ended their walk at the San Agustin patio, the individual groups had bonded and made friends with each other.

Barbara's set-up

Barbara's offered a light fare of lugaw, and other Filipino delicacies courtesy of the organizers. But what was extra-ordinary was the assemblage of performers to spice up the merienda-cena. Cultural dancers  were on hand as well as singers whose numbers were meant to ignite love for country and a genuine desire for change!!! People have grown uneasy during the pademic, but what they really couldn't stand was how heavily mismanaged the government response was, not to mention the suffering business ventures and the astounding corruption involved among government agencies.

Kalinangan ensemble

The solution would be to nip corruption at the bud. Vote for a candidate you can rely on. Vote for a candidate who has a proven track record. Vote for a candidate who has no hidden agenda. Vote for a candidate who has managed to shake -up a corrupt system by providing the means to help despite a paltry budget. I needn't even name the person who fits the bill. She's all woman!

What could be more substantial?