Walked His Way

Carlos Celdran, the Pied Piper of Manila. Taken from his Facebook Profile Album.

I was a tourist for today and I got a very good tour from one of Manila's best guides, Carlos Celdran. I got to know about him a few years ago through a newspaper article by Architect Augusto Villalon, one of our lecturers in the Mabuhay Guides training program and a known cultural worker.

With the rise in popularity of blogging and social networking sites, I only got to know more about Celdran's work through online feedback from very satisfied guests. I have friends who took his tours who only had good things to say about him.


His work is inspiring because of the way his underlying message struck a lot of people—change the way we look at Manila. I heard him say this from a TV appearance that he did in a local travel show.

I eventually started following his blog.

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It's through his blog that I came across the Mabuhay Guides program, which I applied for in a heart beat. I'm inspired by the guy's work and I think that I can do something like this for a long time. He was in our graduation last year and joined us for a couple of drinks.

It's just today that I took his tour and I was far from disappointed. Word got out in Facebook that he's looking for volunteers for his tour this afternoon. My wife was egging me to try out my luck. I was doubtful at first because I was not sure if he can accommodate a lot of volunteers (I was anticipating that since it's free, people will flock) instead of guests. Fortunately, it turned out well. We were only four volunteers.

Combined with his sharp wit and reputation as an 'equal opportunity offender', his tours turn out to be high-impact performances. By the snap of his fingers, a picture album, and his booming voice, we are guided in a Manila that he saw.

The group was told to meet him in front of the Manila Cathedral at 2:00 p.m. While waiting for his guests, Celdran and his volunteers talked about our roles in the tour. Since most of his guests are foreigners, he needed local guests to make the tour highly interactive. There are some things that a first-time visitor in Manila wouldn't know especially about Philippine culture and as part of the volunteer group, I'm more than happy to participate.

Combined with his sharp wit and reputation as an 'equal opportunity offender', his tours turn out to be high-impact performances. By the snap of his fingers, a picture album, and his booming voice, we are guided in a Manila that he saw. We started in Manila Cathedral, then to San Agustin Church and Museum, and ended the tour in San Luis Complex with cold halo-halo served to the guests in its canteen.

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After the guests left, we were invited by Celdran for a round of San Miguel Beer Light. Our conversation ranged from the elections, issues on government, his tours, and career. It went so well that it led to more rounds of beer (I remember that I had four or five beer cans).

The Pied Piper of Manila was gracious enough to drop us off to the nearest LRT station. I went home with three newly-made friends.

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Carlos Celdran says that he's strictly not a 'tour guide' but more of a performer. I think that he's an artist that should not be scrutinized too much from the standpoint of an academic or historian. Credit goes to him for renewing a lot of people's interest in Manila. His use of facts may sometimes border on exaggeration but it's all part of his act. It's his show, it's his point of view and for good or bad, we are his captive audience.

Credit goes to him for renewing a lot of people's interest in Manila. His use of facts may sometimes border on exaggeration but it's all part of his act. It's his show, it's his point of view and for good or bad, we are his captive audience.

There are some who say that he dishes out inaccurate information, which really should be taken with a grain of salt. The specific facts can be given a bit of a leeway because we're in his own world, an 'illusion' that he created to make us see Manila and the Philippines through his eyes. The facts may vary but the flavor is there. Perhaps, it's up to the audience to verify it when they get home and know more about it.

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He admitted that it is not purely guiding that he offers and that's the reason that the Mabuhay Guides get a good number of referrals from him. Whether people like it or not, he is the most recognizable figure when it comes to Intramuros and even the tour guiding profession. We need people like him who can draw local and foreign guests to these historic sites. I haven't seen this much interest in Intramuros save for field trips of school children. There are people that I have guided who confessed that they had a hard time looking for Fort Santiago and was pleasantly surprised with what they have seen and heard.

Eventually, this interest may translate to more guides/performers who can bring life to these walls. It is one of my aims to make the guiding profession a viable career path to the young and young-at-heart Filipinos. It occurs to me that there are some who see it as  an easy job but it isn't. There's a strong sense of discipline involved in it that goes beyond reciting facts and directing guests to the washroom.

I'm making it a possibility to transform the way we see tourist guides. Our group strives to stand for excellence and professionalism because we wanted to be respected by all sectors in the industry. It's a journey that I have started over a year ago and so far, I enjoying it.