While most Filipinos are longing to bust out of their homes with their travel bags and vacation itinerary in tow, the unsung laborers of the local tourism industry have also been patiently waiting for the travelers to return--just like old times.
One of them is Cyrill John Sunga, who has worked as a "kutsero" (coachman)-slash-tourist guide in Manila's walled city of Intramuros for the past 18 years. But the past year in particular has taken a lot of getting used to, considering the length of time he has spent in his occupation.
"Ang tatay ko, ayaw niya kami humahawak ng mga gamit ng kabayo. Kaso nawala siya agad sa amin noong nine years old pa lang ako. Simula noon nahiligan ko na rin ang pagkakabayo, nung natuto ako dire-diretso na hanggang ngayon (My father didn't want to see me holding horses' items. But he was taken from us early, when he was just nine years old. From then on I learned to love being a coachman)," Sunga said.
In 2003, he and his fellow kutseros underwent series of trainings to learn about the historical sites in Intramuros as part of the Department of Tourism's (DOT) "Wow Phillippines" campaign. This would enable them to share the facts and trivias they learned to tourists aboard their colorful lkalesas.
"Masaya lalo na kapag maraming pasahero. Nakaka-tense din minsan dahil iba-iba ang pasahero, may mga mababait, may mga makukulit (It's fun to have e lot of passengers. But sometimes it makes me tense because there are different kinds of passengers)," he noted.
Sunga, who is also the president of the Samahan ng mga Kutsero sa Intramuros (SAKSI), admitted that the number of tourists visiting the capital region dwindled in the past years with the rise in popularity of other destinations across the country, most notably beaches.
Then the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic happened and crippled the travel and tourism industry like nothing has been able to do before. This happened not only locally, but to the rest of the world as well.
Sunga said some of their members have started to sell their horses and look for other jobs just to make ends meet. But there are still those like him who gambled on remaining as a kutsero amid the utter lack of visitors in Intramuros.
"Dahil sarado pa ang Intramuros, sa labas na lang muna kami nag-iikot. Para na kaming taxi ngayon kung saan may pasahero, pupuntahan namin (Because Intramuros is still closed, we have taken our trade outside of the wall. We're practically seeking out passengers now as if we're taxis).
"Madalang na ang mga sumasakay pero iba kasi talaga kapag nasa puso mo ang pagkakalesa. Magkakalesa ka pa rin kahit anong mangyari, kahit ngayong may pandemya, para may panggastos kami at may pagkain ang kabayo namin kahit papaano dahil sobrang hirap ng buhay (Passengers are few, but there are those like us who hold being a coachman dear in our hearts. We will keep on doing this amid any hardship or pandemic just so we can earn something to feed our horses)," he said.
Other workers in the tourism sector have also had to deal with the question of staying put or trying something else to continue earning a living. As such, many of them have turned to doing odd jobs just to put food on the table.
Luis Nathaniel Borongan, a tour guide in Siquijor Island, is wishing for the return of old times, just like Sunga, "Before, ang mga tino-tour ko ay yung mga bisita from DOT and almost every tour naiisip ko ang saya naman nito kahit wala namang bayad. I was not thinking na pwede palang pagkakitaan (Before I thought it was so fun to tour visitors from DOT that I even did it for free. I was not thinking that it could be a source of income)," Luis shared.
Luis started working as a tour guide way back in 2007 but it was only in 2016 when he formally underwent training. This paved the way for him to create the Tourist Guides Association of Siquijor (TUGAS).
Siquijor had only begun to emerge as a favorite destination among local and foreign tourists when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country last year.
"Before the pandemic, expected namin yung surge ng tourists kasi March na, Holy Week na. And then biglang nag-lockdown, na-cancel na ang mga bookings (Before the pandemic, we were already expecting the surge of tourists since it was already March. And then the lockdown began and the bookings got canceled)," he recalled.
With the pandemic prompting countries around the world to introduce restrictions on travel, Luis bared that many tourist guides from his group started to look other sources of income. "Yung iba sa amin ngayon nagtitinda-tinda online, 'yung iba namamasada ng tricycle o kaya nangingisda (Some of use became online retailers, while some turned to driving tricycles and fishing)." Although Siquijor already reopened its shores to tourists last month, foreign tourists are still unable to visit the country and this may remain as the case for the foreseeable future.
A good chunk of potential domestic travelers to the province would presumably come from the National Capital Region (NCR)-plus bubble, but that area is still under a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).
Sunga and Borlongan are just two among the thousands of workers in the tourism industry who have been waiting for the pandemic to end, or at least to allow them to earn a decent living doing what they've been accustomed to.
"Araw-araw kasi ako nagdadasal. Pinagdadasal ko na lang na bumalik na sa dati. Yun na lang ang sandata namin (I pray everyday. I pray that the old times would come back. Right now, prayer is the only weapon we have)," Sunga said.