Palawan Blues

I am writing this blog inside what seems to me is like a luxury jail cell with room service at the PADS by Legend Hotels in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Not that I have complaints, but the room size is really something that I am not accustomed to, but these days of thrift, this is indeed reasonable.

At under Php2,000 with two meals free, some really courteous staff and a very fresh interior, it is indeed a bargain. Of course, they could have angled the flat-screen TV better so that it’ll be clearer when you’re lying down…

And yes, there is free wifi connection.

Yesterday, upon our arrival, I immediately headed to the tourist assistance center at the airport and was able to briefly discuss some things with them despite their being busy tending to the Miss Earth candidates who were also at the airport. (Last week, the Miss Earth 2009 candidates were also there at the Manila Film Center for some pre-pageant activities)

We met up with a tricycle driver named Jun who was an accommodating “tourist guide and driver” and we were pleased with his enthusiasm and love for this city. He brought us around the spots and we were quite impressed with the local government’s efforts in pursuing the goal of making Palawan a major tourist destination. My detailed impressions later….

Flashback…

My first trip to Palawan was in the late 80’s when I was convinced by a friend, Mike Abrera to take on a job with his newly formed company West Nalaut of the Western Seas, a trading firm that was to bring the dried seafood goods from Palawan to Manila. I stayed at the Calamianes group of Islands for sometime, Busuanga, Culion and Coron in particular. Went seafaring almost everyday and learned a lot about rural life. Ultimately, I had to quit since the direction of the business was going nowhere.

Three years later in 1991, a friend and relative, Walter Jimenez brought me to Puerto Princesa for a business trip with his Japanese benefactor. I remember drinking at a place called “Bottle Ground”, now a busy joint called “Kinabuch”, I think…

Now…

As expected, the 18 or so years of not having been to this place has changed the environment, in my personal and limited opinion, for the better. Despite the fact that it still does not really look like a city (but we do have a loot of that even in the National Capital Region), the place is “cleaner” and more organized compared to what I remember in 1991. There are of course, as expected, more infrastructure although I may say that it is still below the term adequate.

What strikes me most is the amount of effort put in by the local government in pursuing their tourism development venture. Something that I someday hope the national government will realize that tourism as an industry is something that we’ll need to invest in, in order to reap from its benefit in the future.

We came to Palawan to see if there are possibly good investment opportunities for us. Unfortunately, pleased as I am of what I saw as compared to 18 years ago, the developments are still a bit too slow and therefore means that the market may not be ready for us. But it was an otherwise memorable experience.

By 12 midnight, we already knew this but had a ticket booked early evening so we were at a loss as to how we would bum with the time in our hands. We were also informed that some VIPs would be at the theatre to watch the show including and Undersecretary from the Department of Tourism. So the next day, we woke up early, had breakfast and rushed to the local Cebu Pacific office to check if we could rebook on an earlier flight, turns out that we had to pay about Php1400 each so we decided against it. We decided to return to our rooms and sleep some more, we checked out before 12 noon, took lunch at a local seafood restaurant, went to a place called Jess Billiard Bar and had fun drinking beer while playing billiards and talking with the Caucasian expats.

We figured that we could still catch the tail-end of the VIP visit since we were expecting to be in Manila by 8:00 pm.

A little tipsy, we checked in at the airport, took some coffee and sandwiches and waited to be called in for boarding. That’s what I am doing now… WAITING!!!!

Because the friggin’ flight is delayed!!! It’s 7:33pm, we were suppose to board at 6:15pm… more than an hour already and the clock is still ticking. This is one hell of an experience… Now I remember why I always took Philippine Airlines… at least if it’s delayed they have the Mabuhay Lounge.

The experience was really bad… and the bottom line? I personally think that our company’s presence in Palawan would not be viable. Not in the near future anyway.