Carlos Celdran Tours

Carlos Celdran is a local tour guide in Manila. He come equipped with his own boombox, and hats for every section of the tour. One of the most interesting tours I have ever taken, and much to Carlos Celdran's delight I saw Manila in a whole new light. Before arriving in the Philippines I had set my sights on other destinations like Cavite, Boracay, Bohol and Palawan, dismissing Manila because of the congestion, and polution. But after taking this tour, I have a totally new appreciation for not just Manila, but for Filipino history, which Celdran really made come to life.

To be concise here are a few of the interesting facts I learned:

• It was never the Spanish crown that wanted to have much to do with the Philippines, as it was the Catholic Church, today evident in the very present Catholocism of the country/culture
• According to popular thought at the time (1600's), considering the world was flat, the Philippines was at the outer reaches of the world, and not very important
• Jump ahead to the 1900's, Manila is the Pearl of the Orient, considered the most beautiful city in all of South East Asia, theatres, universities, churches
• Until...WWII...when the city of Manila was bombed by, no, not the Japanese, but by the US, in order to halt the Japanese in their torture of the Philippines. An estimated 120,000 civilians in Manila died that day as a result. Below in the crypt, we listened to the most intense part of the tour, the above mentioned bombing.
• In the crypt below lie the bodies of the 100's of priests who were exectued by the Japanese there in St. Augustine church
• St. Augustine Church is the only one of 7 churches originally built by the Spanish, to survive WWII, because it was a red cross station.
  

In the crypt of St. Augustine Church


The WWII portion of the tour

The American occupation part of the tour

The very beginning, and Spanish part of the tour, what's missing from this picture is the top hat he was wearing