Kwento Ni Toto: Palawan

Showing posts with label Palawan. Show all posts

Friday, May 6, 2022

Puerto Princesa: Paradise Regained

Toto 11:08:00 PM

The Royal Treatment at Puerto Princesa

With safety protocols firmly enforced, Puerto Princesa is poised to again welcome tourists with open arms. In recent years, the highly urbanized city and tourist haven has been paralyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic, then pummeled by Typhoon Odette. But it is now on the road to recovery---as spectacularly as its scenic, romantic and gastronomic attractions. “The tourism industry is the lifeblood of Puerto Princesa, along with agriculture. Almost 15,000 people directly or indirectly benefit from tourism. In varying degrees, most of the recent construction and development projects are related to tourism: hotel-building, parks, cruise-ship ports, street lights, roads, and many more. Unfortunately, some of these have been on hold since the onset of the pandemic,” discloses Demetrio “Toto” Alvior Jr., the city tourism officer.

The Royal Connection

Puerto Princesa, the capital of postcard-perfect Palawan, sprawls across 253,982 hectares of captivating coastlines stretched over 106 kilometers. Due to its strategic geographical location, it has sufficient depth to allow ships of all sizes to anchor, earning a reputation as a “Princess of Ports,” or in Spanish, “Puerto Princesa.” There’s no contention that Puerto Princesa is one of the country’s greatest pleasures. A holiday destination universally beloved by travelers, beach-combers, and trekkers; a bustling business center with a rural allure; a provincial vibe with modern amenities; and a clean and green city recognized for its lush forests, fresh air, and frontier character.

Rising Above Covid-19

The city of Puerto Princesa has been struggling to get to its feet since the outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020. The lack of tourists, which is the main industry, has forced hundreds of tourism-related businesses to close, leaving thousands of tourism workers unemployed.

“The public-health crisis forced them to find alternative sources of income, which was made more difficult because of the restrictions of movement due to several lockdowns,” Mr. Alvior reveals. “One factor of low tourist arrivals is the fluctuating number of Covid cases, which in turn affects the determination of quarantine requirements and national government intervention policies.” Today, Puerto Princesa is experiencing record lows in terms of economic losses, losing around P5 billion a year for the past two years from potential tourist receipts.

“The City Tourism Department has been strengthening its social media campaigns to encourage local tourists to visit local attractions, in a bid to boost much-needed revenues to the ailing tourism sector,” a cautiously optimistic Mr. Alvior says. “We have one important wish in the City Tourism Department, and that is to prioritize the aids for the Typhoon Odette-affected tourism industry here.” The goal is to regain the city’s glory as an eco-tourism capital. “Our 2022 goals are the full restoration of all the tourist attractions affected by Typhoon Odette such as the completion of the construction of the cruise-ship port and other man-made tourist attractions. There will be wide, extensive, and aggressive promotions of Puerto Princesa to the local and international market.”

The Last Frontier

Puerto Princesa has a plethora of tourist spots. But many tourists who visit the city put the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, one of the New7Wonders of Nature, on top of their list. As the jump-off point for exploring the world-famous Tubbataha Reef, the city also hosts a fair share of adventurers.

“Since the Covid-19 outbreak, we have never ceased to hope that the future will be better. This year 2022 is no different. And while what we want is a full recovery, we cannot afford to be careless when taking big steps. As we begin to truly understand the gravity of the situation, we also come to realize that our moves must be consistent with the bigger picture such as the national situation,” Mr. Alvior says.

Since February 10, the city has been happily welcoming more visitors once again, hoping that the arrival numbers will soon be back to pre-pandemic levels. In this initiative, the tourism department shares the privilege with the private sector.

“While the government is the administrator of the State, the private sector is the bloodline. The government and the private sector are two inseparable factors for Puerto Princesa to prosper, and more importantly, to recover,” Mr. Alvior says. “The key to recovery is to enable and support the private sector to keep or resume their business operations. When it comes to the city’s biggest partners, apart from government agencies, it is the collective impact of small-business operations.”

Puerto Princesa may be “The Last Frontier,” but the City Tourism Department is confident that it will always be the first choice of every traveler.

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

updates

Mystical, Destiny or Natural, The Come Back Come Back Spirit of Palawan

Toto 12:05:00 PM

"I have a dream, and I hope it will come true that you're here with me, and I am with you," oops, I'm not singing a song for you, but it's going to be more of my story, my dream travel. Have you dreamt of a scene where you always find yourself in a place not known to you? Or have you seen yourself walking in your dream vacation? Well, I have been dreaming that since I was a child, an instance where I go to different places. In other words, I travel.

Fortunately, little by little, that dream came true. I have been to places I never thought I would be. I'm very thankful to people who help me experience this travels. It's a great blessing to be there, and at the same time, it is excellent to experience first-hand learning. Now, I'm not only reading books but actually experiencing it and seeing it with my own eyes.

There are still more places that I want to see and explore. My childhood dream probably had accomplished a little bit near fifty percent. I still have a long way to go to complete that dream travels.

During my college days, one of the places that ring a bell to adventurous explorers like me is the island of Palawan. At that time, Palawan is well known for its forest preservation efforts. I was glad that our organization chose the island to be the beneficiary of our annual activity, the Lakbay Aral, Sanay, at Gabay sa Barangay. It's on this activity, where I learned the value of budgeting and getting all ways and means to accomplish the project.

When budgeting, always have a back-up plan, and that's where I learned it. The group's initial plan was a thrifty ride using the Philippine Air Force's C130 plane bound to Puerto Princesa. A week before the flight, we manage to secure our names in the manifest. Unfortunately, there was a priority operation that day, and we got bumped-off. Not backing off with our commitment, the group manages to pull some resources, and we end up traveling by a commercial ship bound to Puerto Princesa. The travel may not be as fast as through the sky, but it compensates with the scenic view and fresh wind breeze of the sea. We landed in the afternoon of the following day.

That was the first time I landed on the island of Palawan. I almost kiss the soil after the thought sink-in that I was there already.

Then, the work started by immersing in one of the local families. It's more of a community-driven purpose rather than leisure. Consider it as an official business, and leisure time is on a tight schedule. But they have this phrase or saying the "come back, come back spirit." They said that you are bound to come back again to the island.

Well, it seems that they are right because a few years after, I found myself getting my discounted plane ticket bound to Puerto Princesa, Palawan. It may be natural to some people, but it seems mystical that destiny is fulfilling my dream to go back to the island where I missed a lot of places to visit during my first travel to Palawan.

It was less than an hour's flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa. The good thing here is that I have someone waiting for me. She's waiting to take me on my dream travel and to make it come true. The 'half' of my life that completes my whole being, my fiancee.

It's not wrong to go on a budget. It's one way of extending more of your resources to spend more time with that someone. And Puerto Princesa offers a lot of affordable things to do. The only problem at that time was you're limited to 36 shots of photos, but you can still enjoy the most of it. My fiancee and I did enjoy our time together. We did island hopping, spent some time at the beach, dined at some of the Puerto Princesa's famous and yet affordable restaurants, and of course, roamed around the city. The best part is that we had excellent accommodation to relax our tired souls. The experience was great, but it felt incomplete because of our limited time. I missed the opportunity to visit the Underground River, the Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park.

After more than a decade, I still feel the spirit and the longing to complete my dream travel. Though the situation now is much more different, the dream is still there. But this time, I wanted to share that dream with my whole family. Especially now that keeping memories and moments aren't restricted to 36 shots anymore. We'll make sure to bring a gigabyte of data enough to store photographs and videos of our family. It will be another keepsake to cherish.

If I were always on a budget before, I think now and more than ever that I need to be more economical. Like what my kids would always ask, "Pasok ba sa budget?" So Palawan wait for us because our family will be there very very soon!

Next to this dream travel, the destination will be Tagaytay. After that devastating eruption of the Taal Volcano, I think it's about time to go back and admire the beauty of the place aside from the lake and the volcano. I'm sure there are hotels in Tagaytay that we can lodge in perfect for a family like ours.

#RedDoorzPH, #LetsTravelAgainSoon