Palawan Where time seemed to have stood still

Time seemed to have stood still in Palawan. Known among the travel and tourism industry as the country’s last frontier, Palawan has managed to preserve its awesomely natural habitat in spite of the many developments the province has undergone in the previous years.

Situated southwest of Mindoro and north of Malayan’s Sabah Island, Palawan is the country’s largest province with a land area of 1.5 million hectares. It is composed of more than a thousand islands and islets making it an ideal breeding ground for tropical flora and fauna.

The local’s dialect — a mixture of Cebuano, reflects the origin of the people who have come from 81 different cultural groups, opting to settle in this captivating island than the fast-paced lifestyle in the city.

The dramatic landscape of the province adds to the amazing features of the island – from coral reefs with rare wildlife, and unmatched underwater marine life highly acclaimed by expert divers from different parts of the globe.

Former Tourism Secretary Richard J. Gordon, recently cited the commitment of the Palawan local community for sustainable eco-tourism development.

“The development of Palawan an upmarket resort noted for its commitment to environmental protection, specifically in the island town of El Nido, did not only result in increased promotion and awareness of the area but also provided economic opportunities for the local communities,” he said.

He added, “The development of more guest houses, small cottage accommodations, retail shops, restaurants, and other services in El Nido was largely encouraged by the growing number of adventure travelers that visited the resort.”

The development of an international airport in Palawan could effectively enable the province to fully tap its tourism potential, saying, “direct international flights to Palawan and other tourist destinations would dramatically increase the number of tourist arrivals.

Currently, Palawan has three domestic airports (in Puerto Princesa City, and in the towns of Busuanga and Cuyo).

“Palawan continues to be among the country’s peaceful and orderly provinces, blessed with the most scenic natural tourist attraction and populated by our country’s warmest, most hospitable people. It has been my dream to see international airports in key tourists spots in the country. This way we will be able to lure more tourists to such areas via the direct flights and save them the inconvenience of flying to Manila before flying out again to such destination,” Gordon said.

He pointed out that in doing so, the government would in effect be bringing jobs and livelihood to the people of Palawan.

In Palawan, one can go to different scenic attractions and one of the premier attractions is the Subterranean River National Park which features an 8.2 kilometer navigable Underground River. It is said to be the world’s longest river, the tail-end flowing into the South China Sea.

Within the Park is a series of wooden steps encouraging trekkers to take the Monkey Trail leading to the thick portion of the forest. The El Nido Marine Reserve, occupying an area of 96,000 hectares, is a popular nature spot which boasts of diverse ecosystems such as rainforests, mangroves, white sand beaches, coral reefs and limestone cliffs.

With its numerous islands, Palawan easily lends itself to diving, snorkeling, and kayaking. Some of the more popular dive sites are Rita Island at Tres Marias, Pandan Island, Panglima reefs and Tubbataha Reefs.

The Calauit Game Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located on the northwest coast of Palawan is a 3,700-hectare showcase for wildlife habitat conservation. Here, African mammals co-exist with endemic and endangered Philippine animals such as sea turtles (pawikan), seacows (dugong) and other variety of marine life nestled at its shores.

The Tabon Caves, popularly known among spelunkers as the “Cradle of Philippine Civilization,” is the oldest known habitation site in Southeast Asia. It is in this cave where a skull said to date back to 22,000 years ago was unearthed.

It can be pointed out that Palawan has a number of international famous resorts, among them, the Club Noah Isabelle, Lagen, El Nido, Club Paradise, Coral Bay Resort and that the DBP recently named its capital city, Puerto Princesa, as the “Most Environmentally Responsive Local Government.”