By Bernard Supetran / Photos by Bernard Supetran & Melo Villareal
The City in a Forest. This tagline best describes the beguiling City of Puerto Princesa, which is the provincial capital of Palawan located in a sprawling 253,982 hectares of land punctuated with forests and greens all throughout its 106-kilometer stretch.
Its claim to fame is the Saint Paul Subterranean River, or more popularly known as the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR), a Unesco World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. This iconic attraction is one of the most visited tourist spots in the archipelago, which is instrumental in the city’s record arrival of 800,000 tourists in 2015.
Tourism officials reported the increased number of flights from key points across the country as among the reasons for the record arrivals. Add to this the string of accolades from the prestigious Conde Nast Magazine, declaring Palawan as “The World’s Best Island.”
Local authorities expect to hit the 1-million mark this year, especially with the new spots it is unveiling to enhance the total PPUR experience, or provide alternatives when trips to the river are suspended due to inclement weather.
An innovation in the PPUR tour is the audio production, which visitors get to hear as they cruise the famed river, replacing the witty tour commentaries of the boatmen. The reason for such move is not just to keep abreast with technology, but to minimize noise inside the cave, which disturbs the thousands of bats in their habitat.
Visitors pay an extra P85 for the audio device so they can hear the commentary, which is a small price to pay for a techie and comprehensive background, not to mention it helps preserve the natural ecosystem inside the river cave. The audio tour is available in Filipino, French, English, Japanese or Chinese languages.
After a heady foray into the natural wonder, guests can grab lunch in the upscale Daluyon Resort in Sabang Beach, near the jump-off point to the Underground River. A constant recipient of “green awards” because of its earth-friendly technology and practices, the resort boasts of landscaped grounds, well-appointed tropical-themed rooms and a culinary feast of Filipino all-time favorites.
Get a feel of Puerto Princesa’s past in a most unlikely place—the Iwahig Penal Farm, reputed as the prison without bars. The 28,333-hectare colony established in 1904 by the Americans is home to farms tilled by prisoners to make them productive as they prepare to be assimilated into the mainstream of the society.
Iwahig takes pride in its century-old structures, which form the core of the heritage tour the city government has put together. The American-era main building, which is now a souvenir shop, takes you back to the heydays when it was a feared correctional facility. Guests can freely go around and mingle and fraternize with inmates, who go about their daily work routine.
The nearby scenic Balsahan River is being groomed to offer river lunch cruises, similar to that of Bohol’s Loboc River, prison officials said.
An evening recreational activity that has been attracting hordes of visitors is the Iwahig firefly tour, which takes guests back to the basics of nature. Tourists can cruise the placid river and be mesmerized by the electrifying sight of fireflies, which illumine trees on in the dead of the night. The half-hour boat ride, costing P600 for three persons, is a real deal, which brings simple joys even to the most seasoned travelers.
History buffs are in for a visual feast in the World War II Museum, which highlights the role of the Palawan Special Battalion, who fought with the Americans in the 1940s. Meticulously assembled by Higino Mendoza, son of a war veteran, the compact museum is an impressive compendium of ammunition, weaponry, uniforms, photographs and a host of authentic what-have-yours.
Established a few years ago, he started with a modest compendium, which soon grew with purchases and donations of war relics from all over the world.
Another historic remnant is the Spanish-era Plaza Cuartel, which served as a military outpost overlooking the bay against seaborne invaders. During World War II, American soldiers were tortured, burned and buried alive by the Japanese in its underground tunnels.
Today it is a public park for a lazy stroll or cycling aboard gaily-decorated pedicabs.
These tidbits all the more become important with the annual observance of the Liberation of Palawan held from April 21 to 23, where the wartime heroism role of Filipino guerrillas and soldiers is brought to the fore.
A stone’s throw away from the Cuartel is the postcard-pretty Gothic-style Immaculate Conception Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in the province.
A few paces away is the Princess Eulalia Park, which is named after the daughter of Queen Isabel II of Spain. When she died, the Queen changed the name of the town to Puerto de la Princesa, or literally “Port of Princess,” to perpetuate her memory. Through the years, the name was abridged to Puerto Princesa, as it is known today.
Plans are afoot for an urban-renewal program to redevelop the area to breathe back life to the historic square as part of the city’s cultural tourism.
With its God-endowed allure and a cultural heritage coming into play, then and now, the city is, indeed, a port worthy for a princess.