Uneven distribution of wealth

There is no doubt that Palawan – considered the largest province in the Philippines in terms of total area of jurisdiction, but the most sparsely populated – has brought a lot of pride for the nation.

Its beauty is unparalleled. Palawan is consistently ranked as one of the best islands in the world. Among its over 1,700 pristine islands are four main destinations, namely, El Nido, Puerto Princesa, Coron, and San Vicente. In Puerto Princesa, one can find the Underground River, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. El Nido and Coron are famous worldwide for their stunning beaches, islands, crystal clear lagoons, and shipwrecks. Meanwhile, San Vicente prides itself as having the longest beach in the Philippines.

Another favorite destination for tourists is Taytay, which like El Nido, is characterized by limestone cliffs and a diverse species of tropical fish and corals, including five species of endangered sea turtles.

Puerto Princesa City is about 50 kilometers from the Tubbataha Reef Marine Park which covers close to 100,000 hectares and provides an important habitat for internationally threatened and endangered marine species. It is therefore a highly protected area.

Because of the vastness of Palawan, there was a proposal to divide it into three provinces: Palawan del Norte, Palawan del Sur, and Palawan Oriental. According  to the proponents, this will lead to more tourism opportunities and speed up delivery of basic social services to the residents.

Palawan del Norte would have included Busuanga, Coron, Culion, El Nido, and Linapacan, with Taytay as its capital, while Palawan del Sur would have consisted of Aborlan, Balabac, Bataraza, Kalayaan, Narra, Quezon, Rizal, and Sofrontio Espanola, with Brooke’s Point as capital. Meanwhile, Palawan Oriental would have covered Agutaya, Araceli, Cagayancillo, Cuyo, Dumaran, Magsaysay, and San Vicente, with Roxas as capital. The highly urbanized city of Puerto Princesa would have continued to be independent of any province.

Republic Act 11259 was signed into law on April 5, 2019, dividing the province of Palawan into three separate provinces.  The law, however, would only take effect if majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite ratify the law. The measure was  recently rejected in all three proposed provinces. In the areas covered by Palawan del Norte, 65.67 percent voted “No,” while in Palawan del Sur the “No” votes also prevailed at 51.80 percent of valid votes cast. In Palawan Oriental, 63.40 percent likewise thumbed down the proposal.

Just like any exercise by the people of their political rights, the Palawan plebiscite was marred by allegations of disinformation and smear campaigns against those supporting the division. Some claim that the proposal to split Palawan into three was inspired by corruption, greed, and apathy to Palaweños and the environment.

We have to acknowledge the combined efforts of the Commission on Election, Department of Education, Philippine National Police, Department of Health, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the different local government units, all of which made the plebiscite relatively peaceful and safe with the necessary safety and health protocols observed by the participants.

One Palawan Movement came out a winner in the plebiscite, with its successful campaign dictating the course of the political activity and the direction of the province. According to the group, despite the largeness of Palawan, it is mostly forests and mountains which do not warrant the need for more capital cities and structures. It says that Palawan only has 58 residents per square kilometer and that the division is just a ploy by some politicians, who are close to the end of their terms, to remain in office by creating more local positions.

Conservationists also warned that splitting the province would adversely impact its unique biodiversity and already threatened wildlife, and open it to potential mismanagement.

The victory, however, is not without its setbacks. Some say that the loss of  three in one Palawan results in the biggest miss in opportunity for the province. Because of the failure to divide Palawan into three separate provinces, the chance to regionalize is gone and the anticipated regional offices and the more efficient delivery of basic services will still not be available to many far-flung municipalities like Brooke’s Point, Roxas and Taytay, which lost the opportunity to bring commerce, development and additional funds to their respective localitied by establishing their respective capitols.

But for Palawan Gov. Jose Alvarez, the people have spoken, the result cannot be changed, and they will have to fully accept it. He was also quoted in media as saying that it is the Palaweños’ loss for rejecting RA 11259, which could have fast-tracked the delivery of government services to the geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.

Palawan officials have been pushing for the measure given the size of the province, about 1.7 million hectares or three times as big as Cebu and seven times as big as Laguna, which makes it difficult to monitor the entire province and to provide services speedily.

Admittedly, there are areas in Palawan that have already gained headway, with the national and local governments investing heavily in national roads and tourism development due to their rich natural resources. But there are areas in the same province that are not as blessed. Unfortunately, they will have to continue struggling.

In one media report, it was disclosed that even the proposed Palawan del Norte, which has the most developed tourist destinations such as Coron, El Nido and the Calauit Safari, and has the biggest public airport outside of Puerto Princesa City, is also generally poor. Five of its six municipalities have poverty incidence below 30 percent. Palawan Oriental lags behind in terms of national roads, but has the lowest poverty incidence. Meanwhile, what would have been Palawan del Sur, which hosts all eight mineral production sharing agreements in the province, has the biggest population of the three proposed provinces, but it also has some of the poorest municipalities, with half of Balabac’s residents considered poor.

But what Palaweños may lack in terms of material wealth, they have in terms of the spirit to survive.

No province can boast of success until such success translates to inclusive or economic growth that is fairly distributed and one that creates an opportunity for all.

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