The 22-year-old Communication graduate became known in January 2016 when he organized a free heritage walk for young locals and tourists in time for the Sinulog, his annual tradition since 2011.

     This time, though, with a heart filled with love for the Cebuano culture, Yucaran is offering the free heritage walk to everyone, young and old, this month.

     “This is an expression of my love for the Cebuano culture and to Cebu. Mangatawa na’ng mga tawo, mo-ana sila mora man na’g buang tawhana sige’g estorya about Cebuano culture (People would laugh at me and say I’m crazy for talking like this about our culture),” he said.

     Feb. 4, 2016 was a hectic day for Yucaran as he joined officials of the Cebu City Tourism Commission in inspecting some of the city’s historical sites, such as the Fort San Pedro.

     At one point during the inspection, he asked the tourism commissioners out of wonder, “How do we spread heritage appreciation?”

     On Feb. 6, he would have to have another long day, as he is scheduled to offer a free heritage walk with some friends and acquaintances.

     It would in Barangay Pari-an, a place he called the old “Chinatown of Cebu” to make the walk more relevant to Monday’s Chinese New Year celebration.

     Cebu gained its reputation as a trade center partly because of Chinese businessmen, said Yucaran. At one point during the Spanish occupation, Cebu’s economy plunged but the Chinese businessmen helped Cebu recover.

     When asked what pushed him to do the free heritage walk other than his love for Cebu, he said the exchange student programs that brought him to India and Japan inspired him to promote and help preserve the Cebuano heritage.

     During their visit to Cebu City in 2010, his fellow participants in the exchange program asked him to give them a tour.

     When the jeepney they were on passed by the Fuente Osmeña circle, he told them to look at their P50 bill.

     “The Fuente fountain is there,” he told them, which also made other jeepney passengers look at their P50 bills.

     “As you see, the history of the Philippines is Luzon-centered. There are fewer accounts written about Cebu,” he lamented.

     Yucaran was inside a moving jeepney when Sun.Star Cebu interviewed him yesterday. As he spoke about his viewpoint, an old woman seated next to him nodded in agreement.

     He wants to encourage the Cebuano youth to “know and appreciate your Cebuano identity.”

     “You learn from history like how you learn from your past relationship. That’s how we learn about history, atong mga failures, the successes that we have celebrated,” he said.

     Those who want to have a free heritage walk with Yucaran as the guide may leave him a message in his Facebook account.

     “I won’t decline any request for a guided tour, as long as I’m free,” he said. 

(BY DARYL T. JABIL)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on February 05, 2016.