Vigan and Baguio in the eyes of Cebuanos

Today, the rest of our friends from the Easy Riders Motorcycle Club from Cebu City will be arriving at the Port of Cebu after a weeklong Big Bike Tour of Luzon. Except for me, it was the first time that most of the guys made this trip on a motorcycle and coming from Cebu, a province known for its strength in the tourism industry, it was good for Cebuanos to see the many other tourism strengths of the Philippines… notably the Banaue Rice Terraces and the Heritage City of Vigan in these times when domestic tourism is the brightest spot in the WOW Campaign of Tourism Secretary Dick Gordon.

Last Thursday, we arrived in Vigan just in time for their annual fiesta, called the Viva Vigan Binatbatan Festival of the Arts… their version of Cebu’s Sinulog Festival complete with street dances. Arriving by noontime, we were invited for lunch at Chavit Singson’s resort/residence where he keeps four Tigers in cages and a python loose on the sala. Although Chavit couldn’t personally attend to us, he made sure that his people made us feel at home in his hometown.

No doubt, the City of Vigan is one major tourist destination, not just for foreign tourists, but also for locals like us. Yes, every Filipino ought to make a trip to Vigan in order to experience what life really was during Spanish times. Seeing Vigan’s heritage, it doesn’t take a big imagination to look back and see how life was in Cebu’s Parian district in the old days. While we only have photos left of what Cebu used to look like, in Vigan, they have preserved almost all the old homes and residences for everyone to touch and see.

Like in the 1800’s, Vigan’s principal mode of transportation was by horse-drawn Calesa. Nope, you won’t see those pesky pedal-powered trisikads there, but there are a lot of tricycles, the backbone of its city transportation. In fact, on Crisologo St. no motorized vehicles are allowed, as it is Vigan’s heritage walkway, the most preserved site in Vigan.

Interestingly, while Vigan is the capital of Ilocos Sur, officially, it became a city only on Jan.22,2001. However, back on Sept. 17, 1757, Vigan became a city by virtue of a royal decree signed by King Fernando VI. What the Biguenos did to make Vigan a city in today’s times was merely to come up with a plebiscite affirming the act validating and recognizing the creation of the City of Vigan by the King of Spain. In the heart of Vigan is the Plaza Salcedo where the St. Paul Metropolitan Cathedral (built by the Augustinians in 1790-1800) is located across a pond at the Ilocos Sur Provincial Capitol.

Beside the church is the Plaza Burgos dedicated to Padre Jose Burgos who apparently came from Vigan. Also in Plaza Burgos, I found something new – the statue of a Lawyer, Legislator, Soldier and Statesman, Rep. Benito Soliven – yes, the father of our very own Philippine Star publisher Manong Max Soliven. I knew that there was a town named after the father of Manong Max, but finally, College Assurance Plan (CAP) gave him a place of honor complete with a memorabilia.

Yes, I called Manong Max while I was inside the memorabilia and gave him something to think about, something he didn’t notice. Among the many photos and documents inside the memorabilia, I read Benito Soliven’s baptismal certificate. It read, born on March 20, 1898, baptized on March 21, 1898; Father: Isabelo Soliven, Mother: Dorothea Tagorda, Sponsor: Aniceto Avila. How time has turned around… that later in life, Manong Max would play Godfather to my son JV. On the base of his statue were the words, "A Public Man Should Remember that he belongs first to the People". I guess this is something that Manong Max reminds our public officials on a daily basis!

There was also an interesting photo of Benito Soliven in a huddle with Pres. Manuel L. Quezon and Vice President Sergio Osmena… perhaps that was the time they were discussing the Hare-Hawes Cutting Law, where Soliven sided with Don Sergio Osmena on this issue. Incidentally, the next day, we were invited for lunch at the Villa Gloria Resort in Sulvec Port, Narvacan and I met Narvacan Parish Priest, Fr. Vicente Avila, who told me that he is a regular reader of Inside Cebu. Yes, on this trip, I discovered that there’s a lot of Avilas in Northern Luzon.

Without a doubt, Vigan is the best-preserved Spanish colonial town in Asia and is one of the five UNESCO World Heritage Sites found in the Philippines. Since Cordillera Inn, (the hotel is operated by Mrs. Carmeling Crisologo, the widow of the late Congressman Floro Crisologo who was murdered inside the St. Paul Metropolitan Cathedral) the hotel we stayed was right on Crisologo St. we watched their "Sinulog" street dancing on Friday night… a rare treat you might say because we didn’t expect this to happen during our trip. Of course, compared to Sinulog, it’s wasn’t a huge boisterous parade like what we have in Cebu. But it does attract visitors to Vigan.

Clearly, there’s a serious effort by the political leadership to preserve the town of Vigan (it is now a bustling city) for tourism purposes. Hence, any new buildings are to be built along the same Spanish architecture prevalent in those days. The mall where Macdonald’s or Jollibee can be found was constructed using Spanish period architecture… although there’s a new Vigan that is emerging… after all; no one can stop progress.

In a way, walking along the narrow roads of Vigan gives one a glimpse of how things used to be… even to how Cebu City once looked like. Carcar is very similar to Vigan, except is it probably only ten percent of the size of Vigan. But if conservationists win the battle against modernization, I believe that someday, Carcar can also attract foreign and local tourists… but that’s a lot of work. As for Cebu City, perhaps the historical commission should reconfigure the Parian District or install cobblestones on the road and allow only Tartanillas (that’s our version of the Calesa) to use on that road.

Finally, we got to Baguio City, the City of Pines and yes, the traffic was terrible… after all, everyone’s trying to escape the blistering heat of Metro Manila. This was my first trip to Baguio in 8 years and indeed, Baguio City has changed a lot… it is no longer the sleepy town that wakes up only during summertime. Mines View Park has become a tourist trap. Now Baguio has its own share of shops and its own soon-to-open SM mall. I just hope that they preserve its forest, otherwise there’ll be nothing much to see in Baguio except savor its cold weather, which we did to beat the summer heat.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow entitled, "Straight from the Sky" shown every Monday only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 on SkyCable at 8:00 in the evening.