The roads, once packed with vehicles while its seams are crowded by sidewalk vendors and pedestrians, were like still images with no humans in sight. The hulking establishments that used to be brimming with people walking in and out, are now lifeless edifices with their doors sealed shut.
Just about a year ago this scenery would have been deemed purely fictional, but when the pandemic and the lockdowns happened, the city of Manila emptied of people was not that hard to picture anymore.
In fact, two years ago, one of the closest things you could get to seeing this city’s busiest corners completely deserted is probably through Wala Nang Tao Sa Maynila.
Wala Nang Tao Sa Maynila, or No Man Manila, is a Filipino graphic novel written and illustrated by Randy Valiente. It won ‘The Great Filipino Graphic Novel’ award at the Comicon Asia 2018. Presented in captivating pen and watercolor illustrations, this 36-page comic book explored the idea of an empty Manila before the pandemic actually made it happen.
The last man in Manila
The graphic novel opens with an illustration of the Manila Cathedral’s cupolas, with the protagonist saying how he has always looked at the structure but is seeing it only for the first time– now that Intramuros has completely lost its typical crowd.
We are then introduced to this protagonist, a man named Arman, who has been walking around the desolate cityscape ever since its people have fled for safety.
There is no pandemic in this graphic novel, but a death threat from North Korea. Due to rising tensions with the US, the North Korean president announced that it will drop nuclear bombs on both Guam and Manila. When the bombing of Guam happened, the Philippine government was quick to dispatch vehicles to bring the people of Manila out of the capital.
As the cityfolk made organized queues to get into trucks, Arman only observed from afar. “Kakaiba ang nagagawa ng takot,” Arman said to himself watching the cooperative crowd. “Takot hindi lamang sa napipintong panganib kundi takot sa buhay na kakaharapin pagkatapos.”
[Fear has an uncanny effect on people. Fear not only for the impending doom, but fear for the uncertain future.]
But why did Arman remain? What compelled him to stay? The simple answer is love, or rather, a lost love.
A story of love, history, and ironies.
Arman spends his final hours walking around Manila, with one woman’s name persistent in his mind: Lea. Yes, at its core, Wala Nang Tao Sa Maynila is driven by a love that’s lost.
Arman and Lea were once a happy couple whose relationship has been severed by Arman’s out-of-town mistake. Not only did he break his partner’s trust, he also left her marred due to his carelessness. Through flashbacks, Arman recalls their relationship, how they met, the nights they shared, and how it all fell apart.
And while the graphic novel weaves this story of Arman’s past with Lea, we also follow the man’s present journey as he, for the first time, gets to inspect up close some of the city’s most revered spots, as well as those that have been obscured by time and society’s neglect. Places that he had seen before but never stopped to ponder its purpose in a busy city where time was always ticking fast.
Well, in this situation, time is running out. And this is Arman’s final chance to rediscover the city that has nurtured him for years.
The last man in Manila takes the reader alongside him as he passes by an empty Avenida, a deserted LRT station, and the Recto underpass cleared of traffic to name a few. In some of these places, Arman also recalls and discovers bits of the landmarks’ history.
For instance, Arman reads on a plaque that the Roman R. Santos Building that now stood silently along Escolta street was once touted as a “Bank of the Poor,” a title that has become ironic in recent years, when the building became surrounded by people sunk into poverty.
After all, Manila is filled with ironies as this graphic novel emphasizes. The irony that the people moving to Manila for a better life are dragged into destitution. The irony of a city where both the rich and the poor Filipinos reside. The irony that this city, that’s so rich in history, is also populated by people who are seldom interested in its past, or people who do not have the luxury to look back when they’re thinking about their survival for tomorrow.
Wala Nang Tao sa Maynila, while a love story, also tackles these issues that still persist to this day.
A literal & metaphorical Manila
When you think about it, Wala Nang Tao Sa Maynila presents us with an empty Manila city in the metaphorical and literal sense.
The relationship between Arman and Lea also represents the relationship between the city of Manila and its people. Just like Arman, the people of Manila are taking the city for granted, and are continuously defacing it with all kinds of pollution.
And just like Lea, when the city is gone, the people will have to realize how much they’ve lost– a home not only for themselves as individuals but to a society that breathes and moves like this one, massive organism. An organism that has experienced different triumphs and hardships along the course of the city’s history.
Now that we’re facing a pandemic and long community quarantines, the story of this graphic novel has become closer to reality, thus more relevant. The pandemic has affected many aspects of people’s lives, not only for those who live in Manila but for everyone in the world.
The city that was always brimming with life became stricken with the virus, the massive organism that lives in it tamed. Many of us realized how we have taken things for granted– the streets, roads, and landmarks that have always been there but we never appreciated.
The question is, when life completely returns to the way that it used to be, will we share Arman’s enlightenment? Have we gone through an isolated journey meaningful enough to change our actions and become more appreciative of the city? Or will we continue to neglect its worth and meaning?
Perhaps only time will tell.
You can purchase Wala Nang Tao Sa Maynila from Komik Spot on Shopee.
About the author of ‘Wala Nang Tao Sa Maynila’
Randy Valiente has been writing and illustrating comics since the ’90s. Aside from our local komiks scene, he has also worked on US titles such as Twilight Zone, Vampirella, and Army of Darkness. Valiente is also a member and officer of Urban Sketchers-Manila, a group of artists that sketch and draw on-site. Some of his illustrations during their on-site sketch walks in Manila also became part of the graphic novel Wala Nang Tao Sa Maynila.
A year before he received ‘The Great Filipino Graphic Novel’ award for Wala Nang Tao Sa Maynila, Valiente was also awarded the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ ‘Writer’s Award’ in the Essay Category for his work ‘Pambalot ng Tinapa: Isang Pagtanaw sa Komiks ng Pilipino‘. He also received a Gawad Tanglaw Award in 2019 for his writings and continuous support and promotion of Filipino komiks. He currently runs the YouTube channel Drawing TV Philippines.
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