Surviving Downtown Cebu

While people were coming in droves to Davao City to join the Kadayawan Festival last August, we were heading to the opposite direction. We booked a flight to Cebu, and left Davao while people were insanely figuring out which shopping malls to go just to witness the artistas do something that would pass off as an entertainment.

"What are you going to do?" my friends wondered when I declined their invitation to join the fete.

Some, however, suggested what things we should do, which places to go, what food to eat, and what activities to try while in Cebu.  They say we should visit the miraculous Simala Shrine, or swim with the Butanding in Oslob, or go farther north and experience the beauty of Bantayan Islands which others daresay is  better than Boracay, what with its white sand beaches, crystal blue waters, but minus the crowd. Another also suggested that we try the Death By Chocolate at Casa Verde, which, in fact, I already tried the first time I went there. We should also visit, they suggested, CarCar and try its Lechon.

Since we only stayed in Cebu for three days and two nights, we did none of the above. Instead, we just roamed around downtown Cebu. We experienced the Skywalk and Edge Coaster, which, by the way, can be cheaper if you bring, as we did, a Student ID. We also went to places which make Cebu remarkable: Basilica del Sto. Niño, Magellan's Cross, Fort San Pedro, Cebu Capitol, and Taboan where you can buy danggit.

Staying in Cebu City's downtown is adventure unto itself, and living there is like surviving a day or two in a jungle fraught with danger. Its streets---particularly Colon Street---are teeming with snatchers who blend in so well with the crowd you won't even suspect they have a sinister plot.

The taxi driver who took us from the airport to the hotel where we stayed forewarned us. He told us the story of two graduating Nursing students who were accosted by the hold-uppers. One ran away, prompting the hold-upper to shoot the other who was left lest the latter would run as well.

On the night we had the Skywalk and Edge Coaster, we asked the guard from the Crown Regency which route is going to the Basilica del Sto. Niño. The hotel where we stayed was just near the Basilica. He gave us a worried look, and advised us to take a taxi instead---it's much safer.

Most of the horrifying stories told to us happened in and around Colon Street. Colon is the oldest street in the Philippines. Sadly, though, it's not known today as such, but as a bastion of snatchers and other thugs. What was once an asset of Cebu now became its liability.

Happily, we were able to go home unscathed and spared from the horrors some people we know experienced.