Cebu City's Tartanilla Revival: Balancing Heritage, Tourism and Urban Realities
I arrived in Cebu City in 1970 after graduating from high school in Cagwait, Surigao del Sur, to pursue my college education. Coming from a remote town in Mindanao, city life was both exciting and unfamiliar. I lived along Sanciangko Street, just behind the University of the Visayas, where I enrolled in my pre-law BSCrim course. It was there that I first encountered the horse-drawn tartanilla, captivated by the rhythmic sound of its hooves on the road.
Personal Encounters with a Cultural Icon
Sanciangko Street was part of the tartanilla route to Taboan Market, where these traditional carriages competed with public utility jeepneys for passengers. Driven not only by curiosity but also by practicality, I rode the tartanilla many times on my way to Taboan Market — famous for its wide array of dried fish, especially dangit, as well as fresh produce. The fare was cheaper than that of the PUJs, making it an appealing option for a cash-strapped student like me.
However, tartanilla operations had their downside. The lack of proper regulation took its toll on the street. Horse dung accumulated, dust filled the air and the pungent smell of animal urine became unbearable. Eventually, these conditions led to the closure of Sanciangko Street to tartanilla traffic.
Modern Revival Plans After ASEAN Tourism Forum
Now, after a successful "tartanila event" during the ASEAN Tourism Forum in Cebu City on January 28 to 30, 2026, Mayor Nestor Archival plans to regularize tartanilla rides. This decision came after delegates and their spouses experienced that wistful nostalgic ride during the international event.
In an interview on Monday, February 2, Mayor Archival said the positive response prompted the City Government to consider making the tartanilla experience a regular tourism offering, rather than limiting it to special events. Certainly, the mayor's plan to revive tartanilla operations invites both nostalgia and critical review.
Balancing Heritage with Modern Urban Needs
The proposal appeals to heritage, representing an effort to reintroduce a cultural icon once associated with the city's past. But in a modern, traffic-choked, climate-stressed metropolis, reviving the tartanilla should not be driven by sentiment alone. It must be governed by clear parameters that reconcile culture, safety, animal welfare and urban reality.
Heritage is not merely about preserving what once existed; it is about ensuring that what is revived remains relevant, humane and responsible. No doubt the tartanillas have no place on Cebu City's major thoroughfares. Introducing horse-drawn carriages into roads already burdened by buses, trucks, motorcycles and private vehicles is a recipe for accidents.
Practical Considerations for Implementation
If the City is serious about revival, tartanilla operations should be confined to clearly defined heritage or tourism zones: designated areas within downtown heritage districts, plazas, or closed-loop routes near tourist attractions. This represents basic traffic management rather than discrimination against tradition.
Also, any revival that ignores the welfare of horses is doomed to fail — both ethically and politically. Horses should not be exposed to extreme heat, long working hours, or poor veterinary care. The city must establish penalties to deter abuse or neglect. Without these safeguards, the program risks becoming a public relations disaster rather than a cultural triumph.
Tourism Focus Over Transportation Function
The tartanillas should not be positioned as an alternative mode of urban transportation. They are slow and incompatible with modern traffic flow. Instead, they should be marketed as short, guided heritage rides for experiential tourism and priced accordingly. This approach reduces road risk and aligns the program with tourism development rather than transport policy.
The City must avoid a permissive approach. A permit system with limited slots, standardized carriage designs, trained drivers and clear operating rules is essential. Driver education should include not only handling horses but also basic road safety, tourist interaction and emergency protocols. Regulation protects not just the public and the animals, but also the operators themselves.
Economic and Cultural Benefits
If the return of tartanillas is meant to provide livelihood, the City must ensure that benefits do not accrue only to a few. Priority should be given to qualified local operators, with cooperative models encouraged to distribute economic opportunities more broadly.
The revival of tartanillas could have a positive impact on the city's tourism industry. Tartanillas can offer a nostalgic way to explore the city and Cebu's history and culture. They can increase tourist attractions complementing historical landmarks and shopping districts. Additionally, they create jobs for kutseros, horse owners and support staff.
Reviving the tartanillas helps preserve Cebu's cultural heritage and promotes cultural tourism, potentially attracting more visitors and promoting Cebu City as a unique destination.
Potential Pitfalls and Success Measures
If poorly executed, the tartanilla revival will be dismissed as a distraction from more pressing urban problems like traffic congestion, flooding and public transport deficiencies. However, if done correctly — carefully zoned, strictly regulated, humane and tourism-focused — it can become a modest but meaningful reminder that progress and tradition need not compete.
At the end of the day, the measure of success will not be how attractive the tartanillas look in promotional photos, but how responsibly they coexist with the city's everyday challenges and realities.
