Opening Doors at Corregidor

So here’s the thing. There are no doors to open at Corregidor. Except for the comfort rooms and establishments which were built after the war, I guess. Oh. The doors at Battery Ways, some are still there, and the doors on the entrance and exit of Malinta Tunnel but those aren’t for you to open. 

Everything else were ruins, with open windows and doors, and marks and holes of bullets and cannon balls. 

Before the day we went to the island which kinda looks like a sperm cell or a tadpole, the teller from the bank where I paid for our trip said, I should look at the ruins at the place once I am there. They might be gone sooner or later. But during the trip, I learned something else. 

From Esplanade Seaside Terminal near Mall of Asia, you can hop on the ferry and traverse Manila Bay to go to the island. We took the day tour package of Sun Cruises – the only one that caters Corregidor trips. It was PHP2,700.00 per head, on a weekday, plus a PHP30.00 terminal fee. That already includes the ferry transfers.

Start of ferry ride. Arrabel, Raquel, Thea

They also offer ferry trips alone if you wanna DIY which was our first plan but upon landing our feet on the island, I wanted to tap my back that I told them to delete the DIY plan. You may also stay overnight at the Corregidor Inn. The one and only accommodation in the place. This is not a PR for Sun Cruises but yes, they can pay me if they want to ‘cause it seems I am already endorsing them. Moving on… 

If you take their tour packages, you will tour around the island on a tram. With a tourist guide explaining to you the history of Corregidor. It is definitely one of the historical places for Filipinos, Americans, and Japanese. It commemorates the battle fought by U.S. and Filipino Forces against the Japanese during the World War II. It was the base of the Americans during the war, if I remember it right. By the time we were there, we kept on asking each other how did the soldiers march to Corregidor if it was an isolated island during the Death March. Now I know, with the help of Google, they marched from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga until they were transported to Camp O’ Donell in Capas, Tarlac. To our history teachers, forgive us. And, we were also thinking where Corregidor is. Is it in Bataan or Cavite? Or is it at the middle? 

According to Business Mirror, though it is much nearer geographically and historically to Mariveles, Bataan, it belongs to Cavite, being under the territorial jurisdiction and administrative management of Cavite City. 

Not sure if it's OK to write things on the walls of Battery Way...

The Battery Way was filled with bullet holes. Our guide said something about the types of guns and bullets of the Japanese and the topography(?) of Corregidor and nearby areas. The mountains and how the bullets reached the other end. I totally forgot the details. Damn, my memory is really rusting especially my attention span. I used to love these kind of things. Anyway, I thought those details were kewl to the –est! 

And of course, there were cannons (I call them cannons. I don't know if I am right.) and tank guns all over the place. Most of them are scarred – with holes from bullets. And of course, the ruins. 

There’s beauty in ruins and if you are an old soul who likes ruins and finds beauty in them, Corregidor is the place for you. Our guide said that the ruins are already retrofitted for them not to be totally ruined. That is what I understood with what he said. The cement came from Japan while the steel bars are from America. I might be mistaken. Again, I wasn’t able to follow too much from what was been discussed that time. So you will still get to see the ruins if it will take you a little longer to visit the island. 

As you can see, there are no doors nor windows to open. Everything is already opened. It’s out in the open like the island. 

The tour was timed, there was an itinerary to follow. You may go down at certain spots to take your photos or roam around to check the areas for five to twenty minutes. It depends. Each tram has a bell and once it rings, it’s time to go back to your tram seats. I wanted to suggest that each tram has a different sound of the bell so the passengers will know what tram is ringing. 

The lunch was free, a buffet. With a free one round of welcome drink – Pandan Juice during our visit. The lunch was held near the Spanish Light House. You may also buy pasalubongs in the area. 

There was also a museum, the Pacific War Museum, which I wasn’t able to check thoroughly because the tram was already calling us. We spent our time roaming around the Pacific War Memorial Dome. The dome’s open center is where the sunlight passes through on 6th of May, the Fall of Corregidor. The sunlight falls at the center of the Dome altar at exactly 12 noon of the said date. 

The three of us at the Eternal Flame of Freedom. People were asking why was it called Fire when it looks like a bird. I have a thought in mind. Maybe, this is a Phoenix. The burning bird. But it actually looks like fire on this angle.

There were also monkeys around. They were just out there, in the wild. By the way, the rest rooms were said to be clean and maintained (a tourist on our tram seconded the motion). I cannot testify to that for the only restroom I used was the one in the museum and yes, the cubicles were clean in the area. 

The Malinta Tunnel’s Light Show was also like a museum. You will know the history of Corregidor with its visuals and audio. There were recordings and the only original recording was the voice of 3rd Lt. Normando Ildefonso Reyes. The one when he announced the surrender of Bataan. According to an article from Inquirer, it was a message written by Capt. Salvador P. Lopez. The tunnel was built using forced labor of 1,000 convicts form the Old Bilibid Prison in Manila, most of them serving life sentences. 

The tour at the tunnel has a separate payment. It costs PHP200.00 and will run for 30 minutes. The tunnel was used as a bomb-proof storage, a storage for ammunition, food, and supplies. It also had an underground hospital with 1,000 beds. The tunnel also witnessed President Manuel Quezon and Vice President then Sergio Osmeña took oath and it also served as the seat of the Philippine Commonwealth Government. 

You can roam around the island for a whole day, I guess. The teller also told me that once you visit, there’s nothing else to return to. Unless you want to dig deeper to the history of the island, perhaps. 

It was nice to see the place which our teachers and history books talk about. Seeing everything in front of you was like opening doors to 1941. Well, a little. You can see the remains and memories of the war.

Statue of the Filipino Woman

General MacArthur Park 

The Lorcha Dock, MacArthur's departure point for Australia.

“Bataan has fallen, but the spirit that made it stand – a beacon to all the liberty-loving peoples of the world – cannot fall!” 3rd Lt. Normando Ildefonso Reyes read, as written by Capt. Salvador P. Lopez. 

Signal for Smart is a bit off. Good thing I am a Globe subscriber. Abot ko ang mundo, ika nga nila. But there were places where signal was a bit off, too. But unlike Smart, I had some bars on those places. It was the mobile data which was weak. A big Thank You to Hyle for the camera! Some of the photos were taken by Raquel.