Long before the “Damaso incident”
at the Manila Cathedral, Carlos Celdran already made it in the news, not for any
scandal but because he instills a different kind of entertainment on his Manila
tours.
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| The many faces of Carlos Celdran (Photos by: Joanna Conde) |
I almost lost hope when I woke up
from a nap on the evening of September 30 as I found out that our interviewee,
Carlos Celdran, was put to jail for offending the Church. A week before this
incident, I already scheduled an interview with him. A day before he
protested he even said he’ll meet us on that weekend that’s why I panicked and
messaged the team about the incident immediately because everyone is excited
about the interview only to find out that there’s a possibility that it will be
postponed.
Maybe luck was on
our side, after waiting for the court’s decision if he’ll be freed and praying
that our interview will still push through, it paid off. He was freed on
October 1.
On the day of the interview, I
was not able to receive any message from him, he was also busy entertaining
other interviews from big media outfits but we still tried our best to reach
him on his tour on October 3. We were late for his morning tour but then we
searched for him as hard as we can, we acted like stalkers hungry for his
sight. We struggled searching for him in Intramuros. We went to the hotel where
he was checked in, we called him, but we still got no response. We almost lost hope thinking that he might not grant our interview anymore because of the
incident but then again hard work always pay off. By 2:30 pm that Sunday
afternoon, we received a text message that he’ll be in Fort Santiago for his
afternoon tour and he will meet us by then.
We were over-joyed, despite the hot
temperature and the walks we endured, we will finally meet the man of the hour.
The moment we saw him walked out
of his car, we were smitten for he was considered by many as
heroic for what he did at the Manila Cathedral. I am not bothered about that
since it was his choice and I am already looking up to him for a long
time now.
At first, we were hesitant to
approach him because he seems like a very intimidating person. Many people were asking for photo ops with him and when we finally had the chance to talk to
him, to our surprise, he asked us to tag along on his tour and that was his
treat. We felt really blessed as we enjoyed every minute of the tour because
it’s not every day that we experience moments like this.
The man being criticized
by many is not at all a bad man. There’s always another side of a story. And
for this 37-year old tour guide, it is always about what you believed that you
should stand up for.
Here are some tidbits of our
interview with Carlos Celdran in which you’ll know his side of story and his
thoughts about the Filipinos and Philippines.
Describe yourself in one word:
Chubby
