Palawan’s anti-corruption crusader dies

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines – Dr. Jose Antonio Socrates, a multi-awarded a leader of the anti-corruption and environmental campaign in Palawan, was found dead Sunday afternoon at a public beach, in an apparent case of drowning.

Police were still investigating the incident, but the 64-year-old orthopedic surgeon and environmental activist appeared to have died while swimming.

Senior Supt. Abad Osit, city police chief, cited initial investigation reports which showed that there was “no external injury” found on the body.

Socrates, a rural doctor and recipient of several local and international awards, including the 2007 Sasakawa Health prize for his pioneering work on rural medicine, was also a vocal anti-corruption activist.

At the time of his death, Socrates was the main complainant in a corruption case lodged against public works officials, who implemented infrastructure projects funded by Palawan’s share from the Malampaya natural gas royalty.

Cesar Ventura, former provincial budget officer and head of the group called Kilusang Love Malampaya, was saddened by Socrates’ death and vowed to continue their group’s advocacies despite the loss of their main stalwarts including broadcaster Dr. Gerry Ortega who was murdered in 2011.

Osit said Socrates was last seen early morning Sunday as he was preparing to take a swim on BM Beach located at the outskirts of the city proper. His body was found floating late in the afternoon by local fishers who alerted the police

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

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2010 PUERTO PRINCESA EXPERIENCE (Bianca, KC, Kei )

Published on Apr 22, 2012 by MissKful

* April 19, 20, 21, 2010. 

* In Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Philippines.

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Puerto Princesa sees boom in tourism

PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan – With the Puerto Princesa Underground River being named as one of the 7 New Wonders of Nature, more tourists are expected to flock to Palawan's "City in a Forest".

Puerto Princesa's city tourism officer Rebecca Labit told ABS-CBNnews.com there has already been a noticeable increase in the number of tourists to the city since last year.

In January alone, Labit said Puerto Princesa recorded 60,000 tourist arrivals, representing 15% of the total tourist arrivals in the Philippines for the month.

"In the last 5 years, we were not even in the top 20 (cities for tourist arrivals). Nung 2009, we were number 10. In 2010, we were 7. We're still waiting for the 2011 figures, but I hope we are able to climb a little higher. It's not impossible for us to be in the Top 5," she said.

Labit noted the Puerto Princesa Underground River's popularity soared after it was the subject of a campaign for it to become one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

Led by the city government and Mayor Edward Hagedorn, the campaign drew the support of many Filipinos and even President Benigno Aquino. The efforts were a success, with the Puerto Princesa Underground River officially declared as one of the winners of the New 7 Wonders of Nature Saturday evening.

"Malaking tulong ‘yung pagiging New Wonder of Nature. The President himself campaigned for it, and the entire country campaigned. ABS-CBN campaigned for us. We didn't really realize the campaign for the 7 New Wonders of the World is technically a campaign for tourism," Labit said.

At the current rate of the increase in tourists, Puerto Princesa is hoping to attract 1.2 million tourists by 2014.

"By 2025, we would achieve the 2.5 million mark in tourist arrivals. The city continues to grow in terms of development. There are 20 new hotels being constructed in the city. We used to have 40+ accommodations, now we have a hundred accommodations, ranging from small pension houses, inns to hotels," she said.

Tourism is also helped by the fact that airlines have increased the number of flights to Puerto Princesa. Last year, there were only 11 flights to Puerto Princesa. By the first quarter of 2012, the number of flights rose to 20.

On Friday, low-cost carrier AirAsia began its Puerto Princesa-Clark flights - increasing the number of Puerto Princesa flights to 21.

"Our earliest flight now is 6:45 a.m. It used to be that our earliest flight was 9 a.m. The last flight used to be 3 p.m. and now the last flight is 9 p.m.," Labit noted.

While other Philippine cities worry about attracting tourists, Puerto Princesa has the enviable problem of having too many tourists.

But Labit said the city government, led by Hagedorn, is committed to the protecting the city's environment and natural resources.

"The vision of the city is to become a model of sustainable development as a local government, anchored on the three principles: protect, rehabilitate and provide for maximum and intelligent use of the remaining resources. It's a tough challenge, while everyone else is having mining, cyanide fishing--kami walang ganun. Mahirap din ang pag-angat namin, but we believe in the vision," she said.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

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Power shortage hits Puerto Princesa, threatens city growth

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—The city government said Tuesday it is facing a critical shortage of electricity as rapid tourism-led growth led to unprecedented demand for power and brownouts that are taking their toll on the local economy.

Concerned over the Palawan Electric Cooperative’s (Paleco) failure to find a permanent solution to the power shortage, Mayor Edward Hagedorn vowed the city government would take over power generation “if Paleco cannot get its act together.”

The current power suppliers of Paleco, that generates a combined 35.7 megawatts of peak power, have been suffering from breakdowns of diesel-fired engines resulting in repeated brownouts.

“We are looking at a serious situation already and I am concerned about Paleco’s delays in finding a permanent solution to the power shortage situation,” Hagedorn said.

Paleco, which has the distribution franchise for most of mainland Palawan consisting mainly of this city and the outlying towns of Aborlan, Taytay and Roxas, has recently admitted it was having difficulty meeting a growing demand for electricity.

Lawyer Rohima Sara, the Paleco general manager, said the firm was “way behind schedule” in a process to bid out a contract to supply 25 MW of electricity to Paleco.

“If Paleco does not fix this, all our efforts that have led to an unprecedented growth of tourism will be gone to waste,” Hagedorn said.

He said he has ordered city officials to study ways for the city government to produce its own power.

A local judge lifted early this week an indefinite injunction it imposed on Paleco bidding process that was sought by a private power firm complaining about flaws in the Paleco bidding system.

Sara said Paleco has resumed the bidding process after two months of delay but “we need to do a lot of catching up.”

Hagedorn urged Paleco to “find a responsible company that would not renege on its obligations once it gets the contract.”

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

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The PPUR poster boys on Palawan Island. Mabuhay!

Poster at a major junction in Puerto Princesa, featuring Bernard Weber, Founder-President of New7Wonders, Mayor Edward Hagedorn of Puerto Princesa City, Jean-Paul de la Fuente, New7Wonders Director, and Nardz Villafranca, Technical Coordinator of the PPUR campaign.

The Tagalog world Mabuhay, meaning “long life”, is used at toasts (Cheers!), political rallies, for praising distinguished people and for welcoming guests. It was used a lot over the weekend on Palawan Island, home of the Puerto Princesa Underground River, which was inaugurated yesterday as one of the New7Wonders of Nature.

“I wish everyone a joyful celebration, as I hereby officially inaugurate Puerto Princesa Underground River as one of the world’s New7Wonders of Nature! Mabuhay!” saidBernard Weber, Founder-President of New7Wonders, as he unveiled a bronze plaque commemorating the election by a global vote of the Philippines site.

The inauguration was followed by a gala evening at the Puerto Princesa City baywalk that included music, dance, speeches and fireworks.

Source: http://news.n7w.com

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Breathtaking Underground River Puerto Princesa Palawan

Last Year (2011), Tripsiders Team went to Palawan and was fortunate enough to experience the breathtaking beauty of one of the 7 wonders of the world today, the Underground River in Puerto Princesa Palawan. 

We started our journey to Sabang around 7am and we arrived almost lunch time. We took our lunch which is included in the package (So you dont have to pay for it anymore) and rested for a few minutes while were waiting for our boat to come.

And finally, the boat came and we traveled from Sabang to Underground river.

We were so excited and as expected, we enjoyed the tour and it was breathtaking.

Have you seen this wonderful place?

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