By: Soc Garcia
An early morning drive from Quezon City to Manila on a Saturday is like finding a coin in a sandbox. Rare and unusual. Saturdays were meant to be bypassed due to oversleeping. But this Saturday was not like any other because I was all set to go on a short cruise to Corregidor Island.
Exploring a tourist destination within Luzon by ferry is something new if you live in Metro Manila. Most tourist destinations in Luzon require only four-wheeled cars. A company called SUN CRUISES provides this service of bringing tourists to and fro Corregidor Island. All you need is to be at the CCP Terminal at 6:45am because the ferry leaves at 7am. The ferry trip lasted for about an hour and while we were in the ferry, an audio visual presentation of the Corregidor Island and its offerings were played. Do not worry of getting your hair sticky from the sea wind because the ferry is equipped with air conditioning. Yeah, that was such a great relief.
We have arrived. Fresh air, a calm sea and a bright sunny day welcomed us as we jumped off the ferry and proceeded to a small gazebo where we will have a sumptuous lunch buffet provided by Sun Cruises. The food was ok since they served Filipino dishes. I just don’t know how the foreigners would rate the food. But it looked like they liked the food since they kept on coming back to the buffet table.
Our guides told us to hop on any of the tram-like buses except the buses with Japanese-speaking tour guides. Yes they have special guides where you can ask for special services like language translations. Our guide was an old filipino male (about the age of 65 above). I was not impressed at the start since he talked slowly and with a funny English accent. But then when I started to listen to him because of an interesting question that was raised about World War II, I was amazed by his knowledge of not just World War II events in the Philippines but also how it was connected with World War I including the events in the history of European countries. All of these were somehow connected to the buildings, names and significant characters that appear in our tour in the island. He threw jokes here and there to give us a good laugh but at the end, still gives a real score of the history. He was a walking History Almanac with a good sense of humor. Too bad I forgot his name.
Throughout the tour in our tram-like buses, we hopped on and off the ruins of this once great fortress. There are two theories of the etymology of the name Corregidor. One was from the word “Corregir” which means to correct. During the Spanish times, all ships were required to have their documents corrected before entering Manila since Corregidor is strategically located at the entrance of Manila Bay. Another theory claims that the rocky island was once a penitentiary institution that the Spaniards call “El Corregidor”. Just like the rocky island off the shore of San Francisco called Alcatraz. They were both referred to as “The Rock”.
Due to lack of time, we only booked for a day tour. However, Corregidor Island offers overnight hotel accommodations and activities such as ghost hunting at the hospital ruins, tunnel spelunking, bonfires and star gazing.
We went to different batteries in the island that showed off the artillery power of the United States. Here are some of the gun emplacements we visited in our tram tour.
For an additional 150 pesos, you will be able to watch a Lights and Sound show at the Malinta Tunnel. Very educational, very entertaining and the nationalistic passion in you will ignite again as you will find yourself singing the national anthem at the end of the show.
We also visited the oldest lighthouse in the island which was used by the Spaniards to guide arriving ships from 36 miles away. But this lighthouse was destroyed during the war only to be rebuilt in 1950. It now stands as a memorial to those thousands who died defending it.
Corregidor also has a memorial for all those men and women who died defending it similar to the Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.
If you are not fond of reading books like me, visit this place and your curiosity for history will surely be tickled. I just hope that the Philippine Government and some concerned private sectors can consider funding the island further for its tourism development to cast out disappointments and frustrations when you see things like these.
I tried to research a speech delivered by Douglas Mac Arthur when he returned to the Philippines after his famous “I shall return” line. It was during a part of the Lights and Sound show where the speech was played and that ignited my nationalistic flame. The following is an excerpt of that speech that I just need to put here so that all Pinoys will know that we are still in a continuing fight against anything that threatens our freedom:
“The hour of your redemption is here. Your patriots have demonstrated an unswerving and resolute devotion to the principles of freedom that challenges the best that is written on the pages of human history. I now call upon your supreme effort that the enemy may know from the temper of an aroused and outraged people within that he has a force there to contend with no less violent than is the force committed from without.”
I salute and honor those who died to defend the freedom of this country that I love
JIL General Trias, Cavite Church:
088 Gov. Ferrer Brgy. Pinagtipunan, General Trias Cavite
Ptr. Nilo P. Miranda