Skateboarding Down The Street

By: Moujeck Cabales/Photos by: Moujeck Cabales/Article 2 of 7

Student at day, skater at night. Every time their dull afternoon classes end, Jeremiah Abilado becomes ecstatic. The 18-year old engineering student and his friends become nocturnal, unconventional daredevils. They take their school uniforms off, and don their graphic shirts, maong pants and skate shoes--what's considered the cool get-up. Dressed with rocker looks, they arm themselves with their trusty skateboards. They leave their heavy books behind to be their truer selves . They skate like there’s no tomorrow. And they roam the streets of Manila in search of the best ‘skateboarding spots’.

Cultural Rendezvous

For a subculture to flourish and continue to exist, it must have some kind of a a meeting place where its followers assemble and live out their ways of life. While Bohemians and effete intellectuals have artsy cafes and galleries where they gather together to recite poetry and talk endlessly, skateboarders have their so-called ‘spots’ on streets where they play all day and night. But unlike the former's meeting place indoors, the latter's 'spots' are mere outdoor playgrounds for the extreme sports enthusiasts who constantly go around looking for the perfect asphalt road.

Abilado for one is like a nomad, always going around the city looking for places to play and skate. On some weekdays, depending on their on-the-moment predilections, he and his friends are in their spot in Intramuros. Two blocks away from the Manila Cathedral, the place is nothing more than a vacant and nondescript lot. Making the spot a genuine bohemian hodgepodge. Its walls are are filled with with colorful albeit funny vandals, like a painting of Jose Rizal for instance with shades on and another one of Einstein with his tongue sticking out.

By 4 PM , people come to the spot to just play and hang out. “May mga klase kasi kami kaya twice a week lang kami naglalaro dito (We have classes so we only play here twice a week)”, said Abilado. Though the place is riddled with broken glass shards and debris, Abilado likes to play here because he gets to meet other skateboarders. Plus for him the graffiti art looks cool.

Skateboarding Spots

Most skateboarding spots are just wide, open spaces and/or unused vacant lots. Unlike skate parks, these ‘spots’ have no custom-made half pipes, rails and ramps; so they makeshift with stairs, hollow-blocks, bricks which allows them to do tricks. Anything can be a skateboarding spot, from parks to parking lots--what is important for skateboarders is the open space and smooth-paved asphalt.

And they especially like the suave, marbled floors. On some Friday nights, Abilado and other skateboarders play at the KKK Monument in Lawton, another famous skateboarding spot. “Dito talaga kami naglalaro sa Lawton, pero minsan sa Intramuros (We actually play in Lawton, but sometimes in Intramuros)”, says Christian Donaire, also a usual face in the spot. The monument is a wide and prominent, marbled historical edifice, in the center of other Manila landmarks. Sidewalk vendors, astute students and lovebirds liven up the place as the skaters run the place wild. Every weekend, it becomes ‘the-place-to-be’ for extreme sports enthusiasts.

“Minsan pinapagalitan kami ng mga nagtitinda dun, tapos pinapaalis kami. Pero usually hindi naman eh, basta wag ka lang maninira ng gamit lalo na yung mga bricks dun (Sometimes we get scolded by the vendors, and tell us to go somewhere else. Sometimes they let us skate, as long as you don’t destroy properties especially the bricks there)”, says Donaire when asked if skateboarding at the KKK monument is illegal.

Brownie Gonzales, 20, and Jomar Lumaque, 21 said they like the obstacles around the edifice such as the stairs, pipes and boxes. This is also where they get to meet other skateboarders from all over Manila, because this spot is famous among people the skateboarding circuit. When asked if there is an imposed curfew here, Gonzales said that they are lucky because there is none.

Aside from that, there are still many ‘spots’ around Metro Manila, where at night skaters gather and play like there’s no tomorrow. They are just nondescript places - monuments, parks, parking lots. Because Abilado and his friends love the extreme sport, they’d go all over the city just to find the perfect locations to skate and to meet with other skateboarders.

A Unique Kind Of Play

Skateboarding is such a unique sport because it isn’t confined only to one place or one playground. The cultural norm here is that a skateboarder should go with friends around the metropolis and find spots. One skater said “Sa paglalaro ng skateboard kailangan ng traveling. Dumayo-dayo ka sa mga spots, makipagkilala ka sa ibang mga skateboarders (In playing the skateboard, traveling is a must. Go out there around in search of the perfect spots where you can socialize with other skateboarders)”.For them finding the perfect place to do their tricks is just as fun as doing the tricks itself.