THEY ARE BACK In this photo taken in June 2019, a “kutchero” (carriage driver) transports tourists in the historic Calle Crisologo in Vigan City. Kutcheros, who are among the many tourism workers in the city displaced by the pandemic, were allowed back on the streets of Vigan on Nov. 20. —PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF VIGAN
LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte, Philippines — The famed “kutcheros,” or drivers of horse-drawn carriages, in Vigan City have been allowed to resume operations after almost two years of being stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic, officials of Ilocos Sur province said on Sunday.
Kutcheros welcomed the news, as travel restrictions that were enforced to curb the spread of the virus at the height of the health crisis last year had displaced at least 176 of them who were forced to find other sources of income.
Some of the kutcheros had to work for construction companies or in the utility service sector to make ends meet, according to the Ilocos Sur tourism office.
On Nov. 20, the Vigan City government finally granted the kutcheros’ request to return to the streets, particularly to the cobblestone-covered Calle Crisologo, one of the popular landmarks in the province, with the Ilocos region now under alert level 2 (low risk) and as its number of COVID-19 cases continued to decline.
Cash-for-training
“We are very happy that our kutcheros are going back to the streets, although slowly. They were the last among tourism workers to return to work,” Michael Ryan Astom, Ilocos Sur tourism officer, said in a television interview on Sunday.
Before the pandemic, the kutcheros used to earn between P3,500 and P5,000 daily for a fare amounting to P50 to P250 per head on an hourly basis.In the absence of tourists, the provincial tourism office organized a cash-for-training scheme for the kutcheros who were taught additional skills, such as basic tour guiding, while waiting for the resumption of tourism.
“They were paid to attend per day but it only lasted for 25 days,” said Astom, adding that some kutcheros were offered job opportunities by the city government.
Ilocos Sur gradually reopened to visitors on Nov. 5 after more than a month of shutting its doors to tourists amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the aftermath of Severe Tropical Storm “Maring” (international name: Kompasu) in October. But even with the gradual reopening in the previous months, the kutcheros said they still had a hard time recovering as they could only earn “by appointment” basis.
Fernando Amano Jr., president of the the kutcheros association in Vigan, said the members of their group were elated by the decision of the local government to allow them to fully resume their operation and hoped the number of visitors would go back to prepandemic levels.
In 2019, at least 1.4 million tourists visited Vigan, which suffered some P1 billion in pandemic-induced losses, data from the tourism office showed.
Vigan was declared one of the “new seven wonder cities of the world” in 2015 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the local tourism had been an essential driver of the province’s economy, supporting at least 8,000 workers, according to local officials.