CARCAR CITY: A LITERARY TOUR
John Iremil Teodoro
The sea between Cebu and Bohol was so calm that
morning. The summer season was coming to an end but it was so
humid and the sun was extra generous with its rays, rendering th e
seascape and the surrounding landscape golden. We were on th e
rough roadside of Tuyom, overlooking a white-sand beach were
families were having picnics that enchanting Sunday morning.
Tuyom is a seaside barangay of Carcar City, Cebu,
and we were there on a “literary tou r” on June 21. It is where
canonical Cebuano writer Marcel Navarra wrote and set many of his stories. Navarra is
acknowledged as the “Father of the Modern Cebuano Short Story.” His best known story “Ug Gianod
Ako” (And I Was Swept) is included in Philippine literature textbooks. He is only one among 16 writers
hailing from Carcar, thus making the city a literary tourist destination.
Carcar City, located 40 kilometers south of Cebu City, is considered the cradle of
Cebu’s colonial heritage where until today century-old landmarks, ancestral houses and public
buildings can be found An hour bus ride from the Queen City of the South, it is very accessible
through public transport, and the trip will always be worth it.
There were two coasters of us in that tour, mostly writers and literature students of
Cebu. The panelists and fellows in the recently conducted Subay Baktas: Literary History Writing
Training Workshop 2015 of the Cebuano Studies Center at the University of San Carlos also joined.
There were also a group of writers from Iloilo City. Iligan City-based writer Christine Godinez Ortega,
the chair of the National Committee on the Literary Arts of the National Commission for Culture and
the Arts, was there.
“Tuyom” is a Cebuano word for a particu lar kind of sea urchin, which I assumed was, or
still is, abundant in the area. So I was a little bit worried about the kids frolicking on the white -sand
beach. But it seemed they were enjoying the sea that morning which made me envious. I was
tempted to abandon the tour and stay on the beach and enjoy the sea. I’m sure Navarra, if he was
watching, would be very happy.
Also in Tuyom is the crumbling Moro watchtower called Bantayan sa Hari . When we
wondered about its name thinking that a kind would never do such a lowly job of watching out for th e
coming Moro pirates, poet Merlie Alunan regally replied, “Well, during the Spanish colonial era,
everything belonged to the king.” This watchtower is one of the locations of Renato Madrid’s novel,
Mass for the Death of the Enemy. Madrid is the penname of a priest who was once a parish priest of
the nearby Vallodolid Church.
On our way to the city proper, we passed by to pray at the shrine of Bishop Teofilo
Camomot at the Daughters of Saint Teresa convent in the barangay of Valladolid. Bishop Camomot’s
selfless service to God is legendary. It is even believed that he can appear in two places at the time
to minister to the faithful. His shrine is a place of miracles. His beatification is now being processed at
the Vatican.
Before we went to the Carcar City Museum at the City Hall grounds to meet the mayor,
we visited Mercado Mansion, an old Spanish bahay na bato painted Mediterranean blue by the main
highway. Mercado is an old political family in Carcar. We had a great time taking group pictures and
selfies in that house.
Then we went to the museum where Mayor Nicepuro Apura was so happy to meet us.
He underscored Carcar City being a heritage city and told us. “I am positive that you will be amazed
with Carcar’s abudndant literary heritage and cultural riches, not to mention its diverse culinary
delights!” He thanked us for visiting their city.
The Carcar City Museum is a small two-storey building with a beautiful American
colonial architecture. It was built to be Carcar’s site club house but was transformed into a mini -
hospital during the cholera outbreak at the turn of 20 th century. The marble tiles on the floor have
black stars, which are jarring to the eyes but beautiful in the historical sense.
From there, we proceeded to the neighboring grounds of St. Catherine’s College for th e
linambay lecture by Cebu historian Trizer Dale Mansueto. Linambay is Cebu’s version of moro-moro
or komedya, and Carcar has a great tradition of this in the past. According to Mansueto the rich
families in Carcar would produce and act in these productions that were shown for free in the public
plaza. Sister Maria Fe Lobetos, O.P., directress of St. Catherine’s College, welcomed us with rice
cakes, coconut candies and cold water. She was thankful to the Cebuano’s Studies Center for
involving them in this activity and said, “ We support the CSC’s drive in educating the young
Catherinians especially on the efforts to include these writers and their works in our classes to
manifest ownership of our very own gifted people.” She was referring, of course, to Carcar’s
magnificent witers.
The lunch at the terrace overlooking the old municipal swimming pool (waterless a nd
not being used to conserve water, we were told) was a blast. I had to stop myself from getting a third
helping of the divine humba-humba spread over a plate of heavenly white rice. Humba-humba is a
traditional Cebuano pork dish akin to adobo. It was so saboroso in a deadly way, the tastly pork fat
lovingly melted in your tongue.
We were welcomed by a rondalla of little girls in that beautiful venue of the back of the
museum. They were playing Cebuano folk songs while we were looking at the exhibit on the writers:
JuanitoFlorido Alcordo, Sinforosa Oliveros Alcordo, Vicente Barcenillo Alcoserba, Vincente Alcudia,
Alcover, Diosdado Garces Alesna, Epifanio Alfafara, Leoncio del Mar Florido, Mariano del Mar
Florido, Vicente del Mar Florido (Yes, they are brothers!), Jose Dayagro Galiciano, Maria Alcordo
Kabigan, Galileo Varga, and of course, Navarra. The rondalla was playing while we were enjoying our
lunch.
After lunch, some of us hiked to the public market nearby to buy pork chicharon (Mat-
Mat was the best brand, we were told), ampao (sweetened rice puffs), and banana chips. These are
the traditional Filipino delicacies, which Carcar is known for Cebu.
On our way back to Cebu City, we passed by Carcar Shoe Expo, where Christine
Godinez Ortega frantically shopped for shoes and sandals. I bought a brown leather belt for only Ph p
280. And it was of good quality, maybe worth more than a thousand pesos in malls in Metro Manila.
Outside of one of the stalls, I saw Merlie Alunan eating lomboy from a plastic bag she bought from a
vendor. Of course, I helped myself with that fruit with the sweetness that brought me back to my
childhood in not-so-far-away Antique.
The Carcar Litera Tour was organized by the Cebuano Studies Center of the University
of San Carlo under the directorship of the indefatigable Hope Sabanpan-Yu, a writer, critic and literary
mover.
(First published in The Daily Tribune, 4 July 2015)
