Reliving the tale of Cebu’s past

The pristine beaches, diverse dive caves, marine parks, and a highly urbanized city are just few of the reasons why Cebu has been named top tourist destination of the Philippines. In the Department of Tourism’s 2008 year-end report, international visitors directly arriving in Cebu grew by 6.23% with a volume of 397,355.

Same is true with local tourists; the domestic tourism market continues to thrive despite the current economic crisis. However, most of these tourists spend less time in the city, heading off to the beaches and islands as soon as they arrive in the Mactan airport – missing out on the rich heritage attractions in Cebu City itself.

While little of the old city remains, Cebu retains some of its Spanish character within old settlements, museums, churches and plazas. And although numerous city tours have been established from different tour operators, Cebu lacked a standardized tour of heritage and historical sites that will truly encapsulate the city’s old glory.

To remove this dearth, the Cebu City Tourism Commission, in cooperation with the Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission, Parks and Playgrounds Commission, “Hapsay Sugbo” of Women International League and the Visayan Association of Museums and Galleries came up with Pasiyo sa Kabilin, a heritage walk that meanders through the remaining vestiges of the old city now encapsulated by the business district of urban Cebu.

“The heritage walk is not a new idea, but in the past it wasn’t organized in the sense that there was an existing central booking office. Before, tour operators would put the tour together on their own; they’d contact the tartanilla, they’d contact the museums, their own tour guides, etc. – it wasn’t coordinated,” explained Tetta Baad, Chairman of the Cebu City Tourism Commission.

Officially launched in June 25, the Pasiyo sa Kabilin walking heritage tour begins at Fort San Pedro located at the Plaza Independencia in the port area and encompasses Magellan’s Cross, two of Cebu’s oldest churches: Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu and Metropolitan Cebu Cathedral, the Cathedral Museum of Cebu, Plaza Hamabar, Colon Street, Plaza Parian, Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House, Casa Gorordo and the Jesuit House of 1730.

The guided tour will take you to a two-hour trip to the past which includes a tartanilla (horse drawn carriage) ride, from Fort San Pedro to Magellan’s cross, a guide map and portable stickers that serve as entrance tickets for each heritage site.

“That’s the difference between the city tours and the Pasiyo sa Kabilin, they don’t have a standard guide map which follows a strategic route good for walking tours. We organized the tartanilla operators as well as the kutcheros, we coordinated with street vendors and barangay officials to keep the tour safe and leisurely. Also, the Cebu City Tourism Commission is retraining tour guides to develop better interaction with local and foreign guests,” said Baad.

Through this, Baad added, Pasiyo sa Kabilin is hitting two birds with one stone by preserving the heritage sites and at the same time providing a better livelihood for vendors and kutcheros.

“One of our long term objectives is to really encourage the participation of the community in the barangay level. We want people to appreciate what they have within there barangay and take care of it, help protect and preserve it,” shared Baad.

Pasiyo sa Kabilin is now the official city tour of the Cebu Association of Tour Operators to promote the heritage tour to their principals and in- bound managers. However, interested tourists can also avail of the tour by calling the Cebu City Tourism Commission and they, as Chairman Baad said, will take care of everything.

[ Cebu City Wiki ]