The Future of Manila: Carlos Celdran at TEDxDiliman

If you can't find beauty and poetry in Manila, you'll never find it anywhere. So argues Carlos Celdran, a popular cultural activist and performance artist who has been charged with heresy, been interrogated in Dubai, and is one of the most beloved - and controversial - tour guides of the city of Manila.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations).

[@datgangshi]

Thank you celdran! The man who shouted damaso and never gave up on the magic of manila. You’re one of a kind

[@mar-veldc9497]

Rest in peace and thank you for all your contributions to our beloved Philippines esp Manila. I hope someone could follow your steps in promoting our history.

[@lonskieg]

I really learned a lot from his talk. Manila is defined as what we really want. Ano ba talaga ang gusto natin maging. Its about kung ano ang gusto mong ilagay sa iyong kasalukuyan, sa iyong presence. Medyo na gets ko ang gusto nyang sabihin. We people to label that and label this. Tayo lang naman ang gumawa ng mga yun.

[@PaulRamone356]

Carlos. The man from Manila.

[@PH-yo6fz]

You will be sorely missed Carlos. Who is left to pick up the banner? Where have all the Heroes gone.

[@MrMikomyx]

I like the part when he said the Manileno would rather be somewhere else than Manila. From the looks of things, this still applies now. How can we change that?

[@bcole9439]

It’s amazing how much he know so much about our history we’re most Filipino are clueless of their history. He probably know more about Philippines history than most joker politician in the country

[@terrymance4172]

it's all trivia... not history... well, partly....

[@dycars8443]

They know more about celebrities.. Lopez playing trick on them!

[@jemm.8277]

Historian kasi cya

[@evachio263]

RIP CARLOS CELDRAN.❤🙏🏻🌺

[@robertovejarasco]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts Flipinoy.

[@takerufrancis7537]

I came here after I heard from the news that Carlos Celdran passed away.

[@d.j.manjares9830]

Saddening, indeed. A great loss.

[@vinny6049]

Lovely presentation❤ bravo👏 Carlos

[@norielynbodonal8636]

A very good way to show how proud you are and love for Manila.

[@fozomomo5734]

i love carlos celdran.

[@jontibloom]

You get the distinct feeling that Carlos does NOT like the catholic church

[@nitesy381]

as an augustinian, yeah that happens.

[@dhennis888]

Such a great loss he is... rest well Carlos.

[@joshu6394]

If only Daniel Burnham's grand plan for Manila was followed. What he had in mind was a metropolis built for the environment and pedestrians and networks of a public transport system with private vehicles running along the main roads. I think the "pwede na" attitude among Filipinos disregarded that plan.

[@blazingfire_0712]

Judd Romano where is the blueprint of his Manila city plan?

[@delmonte4824]

They shouldn't allow so many people entering manila,from the provinces back then.and if people cant afford a condo,they should stay out of manila,simple as that

[@cortlandpruitt6338]

BlazingFire_07 National Archives In Washington D.C.

[@alphasiera1757]

@@delmonte4824 d pwede. Thats against human right, at kung ano ano pang rights

[@kevin080592]

i love Carlos Celdran eventhough i've been to intramuros many times..i'll definitely take one of your tours :)

[@archilife2555]

Architects and urban planners should work together to restore old Manila. It can be done with enough funding and will power.

[@joeldeleon1466]

wow nice talk... carlos.

[@ghiberti]

His love for the city of Manila was so palpable in all his performances! Carlos Celdran is a big loss for the country!

[@polirlol]

Salamat Celdran!

[@miamor5929]

I saw some old videos of Manila. And it was beautiful back then! Now Manila is like maze concrete jungle! Thanks to bad urban planning

[@MissChari]

Thank you. May you RIP.

[@christopherdizon4789]

Wish could have a tour with Carlos.

[@jammel3002]

well done Mr. Celdran

[@tessdizon8563]

Great job

[@emy1975]

RIP carlos celdran. You will be missed.

[@pritilyn4769]

I'm sad that you're now gone 😢

[@donquixote6859]

Bravo!

[@junjungatbos3548]

RIP Good Man🙏🏻

[@esqsus]

search this guy in wikipedia or other news sources. he was sentenced recently in the Philippines

[@MrSonoffabeach]

Feudalism is what made most of us miserable to this very day

[@mindtrick042710]

feudalism is 6 centuries long dead, its your ignorance makes you miserable dumdumb

[@rockyroad5710]

Miss u sir

[@Dnrjhn7]

I noticed that some of the audiences are not listening -_-

[@apdarchitect3840]

+John Dep dami mong alam

[@Bulbagaba992]

Is that Paolo Alcarzen on the first row?

[@BlackCatBelzebub]

Rest in Peace Carlos.

[@michaelevangelista9985]

Rest In Peace Carlos

[@rsunico1]

RISD is NOT in New York -- not even close. What the heck?

[@krukrok5218]

I miss him talking about Constitutional Reform 😓

[@nixdapogs]

RIP, Carlos🙏🏻

[@zackfair5408]

bakit?, anyari?

[@USAglam4]

After gina he had also left us significamt people thats have contributions of manila improvement😢

[@i.hate.shaving7104]

The tour guidE of intramuros

[@mharzmhason1787]

Every Crayons in Philippines is “Crayola/Krayola”.

[@JobeeTabs]

wla man lang pre-spanish. binura ng mga spaniards ang ating tunay kultura at kasaysayan.

[@blazingfire_0712]

Neil Castro true, because of spreading christianity,

[@jakalzate4261]

@@RM-th9ur This isn't exactly true though. How can we say we didn't have much history if it was overtaken by Spanish history? We may not have been as big as the countries you've mentioned but it was history nonetheless.

[@philnightjar1971]

So bawal maging modern ang mga Tribal people sa bansa para Lang ma “preserve” ang culture? The bearers of culture have the right to replace it with a new one. If a child from the tribe wants to have his own house car an office job is he only limited to preserving his culture?

[@gran.9169]

Katoliko ka din naman

[@chrisorlino6410]

It seems like our knowledge about our history starts only during the Spanish colonization, I honestly want to know more about pre-Spanish era.

[@cuteredpanda00]

We are mostly pagans and muslim on pre Spanish era

[@jaranis9273]

Chris Orlino Our history was inconclusive and vague. Nothing really interesting except for the barbaric warring tribes, pillaging and plundering and etc. We are still in a brutal period in which diversity is not a commodity.

[@chrisorlino6410]

@@jaranis9273 hmm... 🤔

[@chrisorlino6410]

@@cuteredpanda00 is there any other details?

[@cuteredpanda00]

@@chrisorlino6410 there's no details about our pre Spanish era in our history our country is divided into smaller kingdoms each have their own sultan

[@reinerjohnpangilinan1927]

What type of speech delivery??

[@kyladiaz7872]

HAHAHAHA oral com eh

[@reconteam91]

Gone too soon, Carlos. A true Filipino hero.

[@ulf___]

Rest in peace.

[@nilofausto]

Carlos Celdran...YOU'RE THE MAN!

[@emmiemutuc6680]

Danilo Fausto oongyan

[@joshuafelicilda5733]

RIP Carlos Celdran :(

[@bidyo1365]

oh :O

[@shintake]

RIP

[@michaelmallal9101]

I believe free education only goes to elementary. Many cities in Germany and Austria were destroyed but have been rebuilt. Tokyo too was fire-bombed.

[@tuberobotto]

Carlos Celdran, one of the last few good, honest and sincere intellectuals of the country. If all our public officials in all government branches think and dream like him, we'll have a better governing body and a better public service system. And the entire country would look good plus Manila would be the metropolis it was before, but with a better and clearer outlook and vision of the future. I don't know if Celdran is a modernist visionary, but his secularism doesn't seem to be one of a hypocritical humanist philosophies being peddled by atheists.

[@tuberobotto]

In my own mind, I think the country and Manila wasn't just ravaged and broken into a million pieces by the last war. Our biggest enemy now is the ebbing morality from within society and from within the government. Our public officials have only one kind of morality in mind, the morality of their own survival and the proliferation of their own kind.

[@stupidname3627]

I think if he was really intellectual he wouldn't have posted what he did about that nurse from makmed. Honestly see this I was really thinking some thing more along the lines of "wow! They'll REALLY let anyone on tedx won't they?"

[@devvv4616]

wow, just knew about his controversy. Very ironic considering our national hero criticized the Catholic church as well. If Rizal was alive today, he'd probably be convicted as well by the church.

[@terrymance4172]

celdran has a strong spanish blood..

[@shemae25]

viva españa !

[@arjay2002ph]

i have read in wikipedia about Philippine History. about 1500 there are actually City States ruled by Kings: Kingdom of Maynilad (Kota Seludong) ruled by Raja Matanda, Kingdom of Tondo, Kingdom of Namayan, etc. Philippines Religion is actually Islam.

[@tuberobotto]

"Philippines Religion is actually Islam". I think that would be a bit difficult to substantiate for as you can see, the early friars who came to the country with the Spaniards recorded animism and even ancestral worship as one of the belief systems among the natives. Remember how it was said that since Catholicism was established among the natives, idols or "Anitos" were destroyed and burned. There was also the animistic, and pagan, belief of Diwatas served by Babaylans. Our language even provides the clue that we were also most likely, chiefly Hindu indoctrinated as evinced by the word "Bathala", sanskrit word for a god. There was also the controversial golden Hindu inspired statuette found in the South, inside a tree. However, evidences of an Islam colonised Philippines aren't enough to infer that the ENTIRE country was Islamic. The "Vinta" boats design often alluded to Islam isn't even Islamic but rather, common to many regions within ASEAN which were Hindu indoctrinated. If anything, I would even say that many parts of the country is either animists or totally non Islam. The mythical Princess Urduja in our legends, who fought bravely as a warrior, is in itself a contradiction to Islam which treats women as secondary citizens. We have cultures of dances and music and instruments which also contradict the Islamic teaching that these things are "haram" to their belief. The culture of Gongs and Kulintangs are a common fare among SouthEast Asian cultures. And the Singkil with the finger extensions similar to Balinese and Thai dances, are reminiscent of a Hindu culture that prospered in the country and South East Asia during ancient times.

[@jingginger72]

those kingdoms are not muslim. they are tribal kingdoms which still exist. thier chieftain still holds the word datu but they are not muslim. there maybe stronger influence by hinduism since most of our ancient artifacts shows it.

[@keisambautista6046]

The picture at 12:14 is Euskirchen in Germany, not Manila

[@channeling7825]

+Keisam Bautista This makes me laugh so hard

[@Gwen-lu3ig]

Ummm, no... It's Manila. Any Manileña/o would've known. I mean, c'mon! The Agrifina Circle and Hospicio de San Jose is right there. That coffin-shaped building you see is Manila City Hall. But, I get it. It's easy to mistake Manila for any European city back then because that's how beautiful Manila was before World War 2.

[@earnonline9660]

Whos here to answer to their modules?😂

[@JakeRegala]

Sana sya na lang mayor ng manila. for sure gaganda uli ang maynila

[@impinai79]

But how come the UP student Kristel Tejada who belongs to a poor family committed suicide. It's a public institution.

[@rambermundo2685]

Hi ulit sa mga kaklase ko na manonood neto🤣👋

[@Praxy85]

How did he die?

[@terrymance4172]

So you are saying the "basura" was brought by the spaniards dahil ang basura ay hindi tagalog but spanish

[@kielsee5191]

Terry Mance precisely

[@08V09]

I wonder why he never talk about the pre hispanic history of manila.

[@luismartinpomares2936]

BEcause before Hispanic there was no Manila. Manila was founded with Spain by Legazpi

[@devvv4616]

@@luismartinpomares2936 wasn't there a kingdom of manila with rajah sulayman as the leader?

[@edenformaggio4733]

wait... this guy died na? how? why? why didn't i know this?

[@hennagaijin100]

Hoy Carlos..........ALWAYS more fun in Ermita.

[@janis_]

I admire Carlos Celdran's candor and passion for the city of Manila, but not his naivete. And there were a lot of factual errors in this talk, it's kind of frustrating.

[@duchessdelroyal6515]

i love philippine history as well, i love the old philippine where art and european architecture flourished, and with regards to the language i may not infavor to have tagalog as the national language since it doesnt have any historical significance to the wholeness of the country, i would rather have the spanish back and to be utilized as the national language since it is the language that made the Philippines and just make all native languages be official in their respective provinces right?

[@oyeahhhyehh9151]

wasak c damazoo jeje idol yan c bayaw na carlos

[@truthcrusader6870]

It was erroneous for him to conclude or insinuate that our country was attacked and occupied by the Japanese because of U.S. Japan attacked and occupied non American colonies too.

[@rockydelapena3508]

educated elementary and high school at colego de san agustin si Carlos. pero anti Catholic.

[@amerisian1]

Makati means.....itching bustling metropolis....

[@piosian4914]

Sa limampung taon akong nawala sa Pilipinas, hindi ko mapagwari ang kahulugan ng mga salita na Taglish. Nawala na yata ang ating karangalan at kabihasnan. Our Pilipino Culture in its purest form had been watered down by coined, borrowed or simply foreign words. Many present day Filipinos abhor and critical of Philippine Literature. Legends like Maragtas, 10 Bornean Datus, Prinsesa Urduha are frowned upon looking for proof of existence. Let Legends be legends. Any proof King Arthur existed?

[@jamesteeradonmahayotaruk1592]

Sa amin dine sa Quezon ay makakarinig ka pa ng mga sinaunang wika. Kahiman sa mga kabataan. Sa ibang pook gaya ng Batangas, ang mga nakatatanda na lamang ang nariringgan ko ng mga malalalim at sinaunang wika. Sa Kalakhang Maynila ang mga tao'y lubhang makabago na kaya't naglahok-lahok na ang mga wika.

[@JoeySunio]

Thank you so much - I am sorry that you passed away in a land other than the one you love.

[@catoftruth1044]

17:07 medyo maganda pa

[@donatskify]

Cox? That's exagg. Coke lang.

[@armata7707]

Good stuff,you open my mind even further more,knowing more about how our country started from past and feature, and now, how i see it, with this new administration we just have a chance, with DU30, anew revolution .

[@Brotherbear1969]

I can't believe his dead. Honestly.

[@ninajacob-soliven5322]

🍺!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'!!!🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭

[@carloscarlosrey7050]

What a wrongfully titled presentation. First Half was about Manila’s past without much substance while the last Half was shamelessly all about the speaker, and expectedly with So much less substance.

[@aprilshower7799]

Iam a UPIAN...but i do not agree with almost 3/4 of this biased "lecture" and useless "add-ons"....I AM COMING BACK TO MY ALMA MATER ONE DAY AND I WILL GIVE U ALL THE RIGHT LECTURE!!!!!

[@roverxanz]

but he should not wished for PRRD to die.

[@thesenator777]

I don't think he wished it. Dunce pinoys always take it literally...many dullards in the country. He could have just said it another way...a metaphor maybe.

[@jamesteeradonmahayotaruk1592]

@@thesenator777 You got it wrong, dude. Have you seen his tweet? I bet you haven't. Check his tweet again. "Good. Now die. Please. Kthanxbye." He tweeted that, reacting to the CNN Philippines' tweet about PRRD's autoimmune disease myasthenia gravis. Saying "now die" is not a metaphor in anyway. He wished PRRD to die the soonest. A lot of people know he is against PRRD.

[@alfiecustodio8842]

:(

[@vanallen1666]

it show's that Filipino has lost his original roots, but only adopting the advocacy of foreign invaders instead then applied it and then call them as the veil of pure Filipino heritage.

[@vanallen1666]

that is why most filipino suffer from identity crisis

[@delmonte4824]

But this is their origin.its in their history,so its nothing less than filipino. Many south american countries were also invaded by spain,they don't have identity crisis because they have churches etc?philippines is unique,its the only catholic country with the mix in asia.where else can you find such a cultural mix in asia?nowhere. Thank god spain invaded ph,otherwise it became muslim.

[@DadandSonBowling]

this guy should be part of our National Culuture Restoration Commision 👍 NCC

[@machie13]

does anyone really use the term "cokes?" haha

[@BaibonnDilangalenSangid-fv9qk]

What a shame, how lowly this man knew his country's history. How could you forget Rajah. Sulayman the original settlers of Intramuros? What about the real meaning in Manila based on its Islamic name? How awful.

[@hmhbanal]

Carlos should have promoted 3-point Constitutional reform: federalism, parliamentary system & open-FDI, aside from Filipino culture and arts PER SE, instead of wasting his time irrationally bashing Duterte administration & its supporters.

[@Nextlevel1100]

Really? Carlos needs a history book.

[@aprilshower7799]

So after Marcos...u stopped...no improvements actually starting from the Aquinos... At least during Marcos...Philippines was 2nd to Japan...but after them, Philippines became lowest of all... My father never even thought of leaving the country to be an ofw....because there were jobs...ofw diaspora started with the AQUINOS...

[@leapdrive]

Celdran, I can tell you are a UP alumnus based your sarcasm of the Catholic Church and its clergy. Do us a favor by telling your fellow alumni to stay out of Phil. politics. Acting and Art may be best for you UPians. And btw, there are Catholic schools which caters to the middle income families. Also please, use a less of arm and hand motions.

[@leapdrive]

Tight blue jeans and black t-shirt in a university presentation? Is that your teaching style in UP?

[@hennagaijin100]

leapdrive Lighten up. He doesn't have to dress for success. It's the message. Carlos is the best thing Manila has going for it.

[@leapdrive]

He is? That's the problem with our currently lax world of secularism and lack of decorum. Nothing is taken seriously except the attack or innuendo

[@leapdrive]

innuendoes on the Catholic Church. All is made seemingly harmless but in reality, wicked.

[@MHJay01]

leapdrive I personally think there's nothing wrong with wearing blue jeans and black shirt on a talk-staged presentation... And i'm pretty sure that they don't teach how-to-wear-clothes-in-terms-of-the-norms in Diliman, I'm sure they're busy teaching something else, something that matters.

[@vernagingo4959]

I had to stop....He may have interesting things to say, pero napaka-annoying ng delivery...

[@darkhorsepodcastph]

Hahahaha

[@luismartinpomares2936]

This guy is not a historian. He is a clown. He has many errors, misunderstanding and misinterpretaions of the history

[@ejenelmaramag6141]

rest in peace ang taba ng utak mo sir

[@badlongon525]

Talking about future carlos, where's your future???

[@zinzen5310]

nabwisit ako sa intro ang daming kaartehan sa buahy, ang ending hnd ko na pinanood and proceeded here on comment box ryt away 😒

[@sitataybootan7245]

Matalinong gonggong itong si carlos sayang ka. Now you are gone better for you may your soul rip.

[@jayroysevillo9853]

dont like this guy at all.....its like reading a history book without footnotes and a bad interpretation of our history .. sorry to say that but i heard him many times and i even saw him dancing with the National Anthem in front of tourists.

[@zackfair5408]

pano nagkaruon ng technology ang chinese back then na ala nmn alam yan sa digmaan.. nagka teknolohiya lng ang mga yan dahil sa amerika...

[@jamesteeradonmahayotaruk1592]

How about the Great Wall of China? Wala pang USA nung tinayo yan. Isa pa. Gunpowder. 9th century pa nila naimbento yan. Hindi ako tsekwa pero hindi maitatanggi ang mga nagawa nila na mas nauna pa sa mga Kano.