Photos et lettres des Philippines, de France et d'ailleurs

On November 24, like every years I was invited with all his clients by Jay, our contractor, to attend the evening buffet offered for the fiesta of Dumaguete. Unfortunately the party was completely ruined by the downpour. The next day, it was the Saint Catherine patron saint of the city and I did not even go to see the other festivities as the weather was still rainy. Instead I decided to go the following day to Cebu city.

(The Dumaguete boulevard under the rain the eve of the November 25 fiesta)

I had not been in the second city of the Philippines since my arrival last September 8. The distance in kilometers from my house is only 180 but by road and boat it takes approximately six hours to get there.

(From Liloan in Cebu island, the coastlines of Negros)

I arrived in Cebu City at 1 pm and went to the Hotel Dynasty Tourist Inn where I had reserved a room at 800 pesos (12 €), clean with air conditioning, hot water and TV and located downtown near the square Fuente Osmena.
I went to SM mall for lunch and started doing some shopping. Then I visited the historic old Cebu and especially the Basilica of Santo Niño which construction began April 28, 1565 primarily in wood and thatch, was rebuilt in 1735 in concrete after it burnt down and was finally completed in 1739. Then I continued with the Magellan cross erected in a chapel in front of the Cebu City Hall and is a replica of the original cross planted by Magellan April 21, 1521. I then walked to the Cathedral which restoration was completed April 28, 2009 and I finished with the Fort San Pedro, built in 1565 by the Basque Miguel López de Legazpi and named after his flagship.
I had seen all these places before but never at dusk and I regretted very much not having my camera gear so I promised myself to come back the next day with my equipment.
The evening I dined at Vienna restaurant before going to bed with a good book bought earlier at the National book store in SM mall.
The next day while I was taking my breakfast at the restaurant of the hotel, I met a longtime friend Jean, a native of Marseilles, he spends at least six months per year in the Philippines where he divides his time between Cebu City, Dumaguete, Siquijor and San Carlos. We promised to call each other during the day.
I then returned to the SM mall to finish my shopping and at noon had lunch in a Filipino restaurant. The Philippine food is delicious even if it is less varied than the real Chinese and Thai cuisines. It is strange that to my knowledge, it doesn't or no longer exist a Philippine restaurant with its authentic cuisine in Paris, giving way to the frozen ready-made meals of the so-called Chinese and Japanese restaurants. What a pity or a good tip for an investor!

I then returned to the hotel to take a little rest and when I pointed out to the taxi driver that did not take the usual route, he apologized to me saying he was a newbie and asked me how I usually paid this ride. I replied 70 pesos (1 €) and he said that whatever the amount on the meter, he would charge me the same rate. The difference was only 10 pesos and I left them as a tip. It is typical of this contrasted country when you can see the best alongside the worst, the honest and the dishonest and all in the same day or the hour.
Around 4:30 pm, I took a taxi again to go in the old Cebu with my camera gear.
The traffic jams at the end of the day had already begun, and it took me a long time before arriving at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño. A giant Mass was already under process both in the premises and inside the basilica. I took a few pictures but a guard politely asked me to abstain during the religious ceremony even though I never use flash in such circumstances as not to disturb.

(They sell religious trinkets but ouside the premises of the Basilica)

(The basilica Santo Niño during the mass)

So I went off and to see the night fall on the cathedral not far away.
Again a mass was taking place but I could take some shots inside and outside being as always discreet and respectful of such a place.

(The Cebu Cathedral and premises)

Back at the Basilica of Santo Nino, it was dark but the same Mass was still continuing or another had begun.
Yet I am accustomed to this country but I cannot help but be impressed or even moved every time by the religious fervor reigning over here and culminating on the Easter week.
I am not an atheist but I am often vey critical of all these churches and sects which profit from poverty to proselytize and to make money as well. God probably does not need as many branches on this earth to be represented but I understand that Filipinos need to believe in something that relieves their daily miseries while awaiting a better world in the afterlife.
In our developed countries materialism is killing what remained of spirituality. The churches are closed, there are not enough priests and the door is wide open for certain fundamentalism from elsewhere.

(The Basilica Santo Niño at nightfall)

I took some pictures of the Basilica at night before going to do the same at the Magellan cross.

(The Magellan cross and the chapel)

It is only after that my problems began.
It was 6 pm and I had an appointment with Jean at 6:30 at the hotel before having dinner together with Patrick, his wife and one of his sons. I have already mentioned Patrick in another article regarding the death of Pierre. He lives in Cebu with his family and runs an Internet cafe. So I wanted to return to Dynasty tourist Inn but it was rush hour and therefore I couldn't find a taxi and I had to walk the distance for a part and then to ride a crowded Jeepney for the other part.

(Rush hour, I took a Jeepney like that one)

I was ultimately only a half-hour late when I met Jean. We went first to a bar for a beer before going on to the restaurant. While in the bar he told me about the case of B. that kept Patrick so much occupied for the last six months as he took care of it, at any rate far much better than our own embassy members who did little and visited B. only once or twice.
I'm probably not objective but since 1975 and Vientiane in Laos, I think our diplomatic personnel trained at Sciences Po (School of political sciences) and ENA (National school of administration), is much more comfortable in cocktails with champagne and petit-four than to help their own nationals in trouble. It started in 1975 when the Pathet Lao and Viet Cong arrived to 'liberate' Vientiane, preventing us at the same time from leaving Laos and returning to Thailand. Was it a joke? But we were told to seek assistance from the US Embassy rather than the French 's, where actually, we were refused the necessary papers to obtain an exit visa 'reserved' to their owns people and affiliated members although our friend Jean-Pierre had introduced himself as a Customs officer and a public servant like them. Finally we were given these papers by an Indian grocer.
Later I didn't change my mind about them with the problem faced by my sister-in-law for obtaining a tourist visa in 1983.  She was asked to have a mention in English on her return ticket saying "ticket refundable to the French government" that of course the airline company refused. Instead the good text was "non-refundable without the approval of the French government." If in addition they do not speak English, what a mess!

My colleagues of UAP assistance just for fun won the case after exhausting the consul calling him from France many times a day. To take his revenge he granted her the day before her departure a tourist visa valid for one month only. Later we were told at the Immigration headquarters in Paris that this month-long visa wasn't legally granted because the minimum was a validity of three months.
Still later in 2004 and 2005 after the death of 2 friends any financial assistance for the burial were denied to us and they said they were not a bank!
In short I have spit enough venom on our diplomats and let us go back to our evening.

We all met at the Casa Verde restaurant near the Robinson mall where their steak called Dax, served with a skewer of shrimp deserved our attention for only 3.50 €.

(From left to right, Jean, Patrich, his wife and son)

Patrick told me the whole story of the French B. jailed for allegedly being behind the murder of his future sister-in-law in San Carlos. He visited him several times in prison and took care of everything until his recent release on bail. Still B. had spent six months in prison but since the case is not tried yet, I prefer to refrain from any comment and I just attached two links about article published last March.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/03/05/09/french-nationals-family-negros-faces-murder-raps

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/258538,frenchwoman-murdered-in-the-philippines-three-suspects-arrested.html

 It seems that the truth is quite different and the history of B. undoubtedly deserves later, after the verdict, a long article or television coverage in our media.
In any event, Hats off to Patrick who is one of those rare people who never hesitate to give their time to help others and fight against injustice.
To close the month of November, on the 30, I was invited by Violetta and her husband Michel to share the buffet they had prepared for the fiesta of Amlan in their beautiful house by the sea. For the anecdote, that is this house in 2002 which gave me for a part, the idea of living in the Philippines. At the time I thought "why not me?"

(Some of the guests of Violetta and Michel's party)