The irony of things

CORON, Palawan – The fact that I get it, just like all these tourists, though mostly foreigners, makes me lucky.

Coron is probably the most beautiful, if not the best, place in the Philippines. It has not one, nor two, but maybe 30 attractions. If you include the entire Calamianes Group of Islands which consists of Busuanga, Linapacana, and Culion, then the list increases to 50 or even more. It is situated at the northern tip of Palawan, the country’s last frontier.

I got to see nine of these natural attractions and I understand why all these tourists, a number from Europe, travel many miles just to get here.

The Asia Grand View Hotel, located at Governor’s Ave.  Jolo, Brgy. 5 here in Coron was a great jump off point to see all these exciting places. Established in 2011 by a group of Filipino and German investors, it has 20 rooms, 12 of which are deluxe and eight of which are superior (it is full booked at this time of the year, just like other hotels and inns in Coron). The hotel from the restaurant offers a spectacular view of Coron Bay.

The hotel is 30 to 45 minutes from the Busuanga airport (the flight from Manila is around the same) and is 10 to 15 minutes away from the town center or exactly P20 away by tricycle which is the main mode of transportation here.

Asian Grand View also has a dive center which can coordinate your dive plans and tours. Coron is famous for its dive spots, including 11 World War II shipwrecks, the Barracuda Lake, the certified marine park Siete Pecados, among others.

In the afternoon of our day of arrival was our first tour – the city tour. It was not the usual city tour because it starts at 3 or 4 in the afternoon. The tour includes a quick visit to Luwalhati Park, a souvenir shop that sells Coron’s delicacy – cashew, a climb (730 steps said to have been built through the efforts of the former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes who is said to be running for mayor of Coron where he hails from. This despite having been arrested for murder together with his brother Mario who is also running for vice mayor. Gov. Joel’s wife is the incumbent mayor of Coron town) to reach the second highest place in Coron town – Mt. Tapyas where a cross was built. The last part of the tour was to Maquinit Hot Springs, said to be the only salt water hot spring in the Philippines with temperature ranging from 30-40 degrees Celsius.

On the way back to the hotel, we passed by a woman selling fresh catch -  a huge tulingan fish and some alumahan – a kilo of which was selling for P90. We brought the fish back to the hotel which they grilled and the rest made into sweet and sour. We didn’t have to go after all to Coron’s famous restaurants which sad to say do not offer anything new.

The next day was the crown jewel of all local tours. We get to visit six of Coron’s natural attractions – Siete Pecados, a group of seven islets whose coral reef  is home to a wide variety of exotic fishes; Banol Beach and CYC Beach whose white powder-like sand and turquoise water was already enough to make this trip unforgettable; Twin Lagoon which consists of two lagoons separated by limestone cliffs – one can reach the other via a tunnel which is underwater during high tide; and the Barracuda Lake (my personal favorite) which is interesting to divers due to its unique layers of fresh, salt and brackish water and temperature shifts. It was so deep that I couldn’t see the bottom. But being a novice swimmer, I settled for looking at the lake walls consisting of interesting rock formations. Our guide told us that the lake used to have huge barracudas swimming its waters, but they had to be transferred because they were attacking people. The last was supposed to be the main attraction – Kayangan Lake which is the cleanest lake in the country. Set among limestone cliffs, it is also known as the Blue Lagoon for its breathtaking view. Unfortunately, one has to climb 150 steps then down another 150 to get to the lake.

The Tagbanuas, Coron’s indigenous people, built the steps. They continue to guard Barracuda Lake and Kayangan Lake which our guide told us, where opened to tourists only after certain rituals were performed. You see, these lakes are sacred to the Tagbanuas. Coron actually has 13 lakes only two of which were opened to the public. The rest remains exclusive to the Tagbanuas because the limestone cliffs are said to be home to many balinsasayaw or swifts which produce the famous and expensive edible bird’s nests which are actually solidified bird saliva.

What is unique about Coron is that the native Tagbanuas remain in control of their ancestral lands. It is unfortunate though that scheming businessmen sometimes take advantage. Take for instance one resort that paid a middleman P50 million to acquire an island which the middleman in turn acquired from a Tagbanua for only P5 million. The Tagbanua then learned of the huge P45 million difference and went to the resort owners who fortunately agreed to pay the indigenous folk regular rentals. Another island was also acquired many years’ back from a Tagbanua for something like P150,000 by a middleman who sold it to a resort owner (who has a famous resort in Boracay) for P50 million.

Right now, most of Coron Island’s tourist attractions are either controlled by the Tagbanuas or are public lands and I hope they leave it that way. A number of islands are already privately owned and it is our sincere hope that these private owners have the same concern for the environment like the Tagbanuas.

As for the residents of Coron town and probably the rest of Palawan, they continue to lament the fact that while their province hosts the Malampaya natural gas field located 80 km west of northern Palawan, they don’t seem to feel the benefits of this rich find. Coron is classified as a first-class municipality, but the district hospital can’t even provide free dextrose to poor patients. In case one needs surgery like appendectomy, the patient will have to be taken to Culion which is around two hours’ away by boat. If unfortunately the patient has to be taken at night, then the family will have to rent a boat privately for P3,000.

Coron doesn’t even has a satellite LTO or Marina office so that if vehicle or boat owners need to register their transport, they will have to go all the way to Manila or Mindoro or maybe Puerto Princesa. The public market is an eye sore. The public school is not exactly something the residents are proud of.

So who is benefitting from all these tourist arrivals and spendings? Palawan hosts the biggest natural gas find and yet, residents pay so much for fuel. Diesel here in Palawan costs P35 per liter. The local government wants to introduce e-tricycles which unfortunately will run out of power immediately because many roads are steep and will consume more battery power. One tricycle driver tells us that the boundary will be very high, the battery charging rates will be expensive, so at the end of the day, the environment will benefit but the townsfolk will suffer.

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