The Philippine ‘Calesa’

Philippine ‘Calesa’ or “Kalesa” (sometimes called a karitela) is a carriage being pulled by a horse. This was one of the modes of transportation introduced in the Philippines in the 18th century by the Spaniards that only nobles and high ranked officials could afford. Philippine ‘Calesa’ considered as one of the oldest mode of transportaion in our country, of which our ancestors love to ride viewing the beautiful scenic spots.

Calesa flourished most to Big Spanish Cities before, such as  Ciudad de Cebú (Cebu, 1571), Manila, Nueva Segovia (Lal-lo, year 1595), La Ciudad de Cáceres (Naga,year 1575). The Kalesas can also be found in Intramuros and Binondo in the city of Manila and also in Iligan City, which has a street where decorated kalesas can be taken for a ride. In Cagayan, kalesas are common, especially in Tuao and many other municipalities. In Tuguegarao City, they are mixed in traffic with private cars, motorcycles, sidecar motorcycles, jeepneys, trucks, and bicycles.

The “Calesa” is designed with Filipino style decorated with some Philippine stuffs and painted with some of the Philippine beautiful scenery. It consist of wooden cart or carriage and a single or couple of horse/s. A kalesa looks like an inclined cart. It has two round wheels on each side and two rows of seats that can accommodate four persons. The driver sits on a block of wood located at the front of the cart near the horse.

The driver is commonly called as “Cochero” or “Kutsero“, driving  without license. My grandfather is a former Kalesa driver, he who introduces and let me experience the life riding on the ‘Calesa’ on my childhood days. I often see him with “sumbrero” or hat, t-shirt, and long pants. He also reins the horse with some words, when he direct the horse to turn right he say “mano” and he say “silla” to direct the horse to turn left.

Today, our Philippine ‘Calesa’ still survives despite of the fact that our cities and municipalities are flocked with steel auto cars.