Wednesday, July 16, 2008 Pal express to Puerto Princesa By Nelia G. Neri
FROM the window of the PAL Express’ Bombardier Q400 plane, we could see the lush vegetation and pristine coastline of Palawan shortly before touchdown in Puerto Princesa. We were a group of media invitees onboard the new low-fares brand of Philippine Airlines dubbed PAL Express. Leading the group were PAL VP-Corporate Communications Rolly Estabillo and PAL Mactan office manager Jun Canton.
PAL Express, which was officially launched last May, serves domestic island points, intra-regional routes in the Visayas and Mindanao as well as secondary routes to smaller airports that can’t accommodate PAL’s regular jet aircraft. The fleet will initially consist of nine turbo-propeller aircraft: three Bombardier Q300 (50 seater) and six Bombardier Q400 which seats 76 passengers.
It was a short and pleasant flight to Puerto Princesa and we were all in high spirits when we arrived. There was the smiling PAL station manager Rey Salvatierra meeting us along with Rolly E.’s angels from Manila, Pinky Balagtas and Eya Prospero, and official photographer Joselito Hibo.
Clean and green, and somewhat like the Cebu we knew 50 or so years ago, was how everyone sized up Puerto Princesa as we made our way to Hotel Fleuris where we were billeted. There was no traffic, nor high-rise buildings to speak of. Though it is the biggest city in the country in terms of area, full development is still a dream. But it is a lovely place to visit.
First on our agenda was a look-see at the Mitra Ranch up the nearby hills. Since we had time to spare, we made a brief stop at Baker’s Hill, a private compound that is surprisingly open to the public. There’s a bakery at the entrance of the premises, effigies of well-known characters stationed near the houses, a well-kept garden at the back with separate enclosures for peacocks and ostriches, and a lookout that affords a sweeping view of the surrounding hills.
Dusk found us at the doorstep of the spacious Mitra house where young and good-looking Rep. Abraham “Baham” Mitra gave us a warm welcome.
Over a yummy home-cooked dinner of adobo, veggies, prawns, crabs, and other seafood, our gallant dinner host spoke of the Palawan he loves — its tourism potential as evidenced by the real estate movements and the seaside developments including two new airports coming up (in San Vicente touted as the next Boracay and in Busuanga), and on a disheartening note, the lack of big industries in the city for more employment opportunities. Conversing with him was an eye-opener.
We got to know more about Palawan the next night (after spending the day at the Dos Palmas Resort) when we listened to Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn during the culmination dinner of the Business Conference at the Legend Hotel. He gave a powerpoint presentation on how Puerto Princesa has steadily evolved into the environment-friendly place that it is known today, and the changes he has put in place. Puerto Princesa is a Hall of Fame awardee for being the cleanest and greenest city in the Philippines. It also got the Peace Award for being the country’s most peaceful city. The dynamic mayor is a thinker and a doer.
Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm was definitely in our list of places to see. A prison without walls, the place was established by the Americans in 1904 so that convicts could make use of their time by tending farms instead of just idly staying behind bars. We saw endless tracts of rice fields, vast pastures, and farm lands as far as the eyes could see.
Aside from farming, inmates make handicrafts for added income. We went to the store where the items were sold: wood carvings and figurines, native bags, key chains, musical instruments, and other souvenirs.
Of course, we couldn’t miss a visit to the famed Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, a World Heritage site which is undoubtedly one of the world’s natural wonders. We went on the day that typhoon Frank unleashed its fury. My colleague Chinggay has written about that adventure in the travel section.
With PAL Express now poised to fly to more domestic destinations, travelers can easily get seamless connections between erstwhile inaccessible provincial points with the major points served by PAL across the Philippines, Asia, Australia and North America. And best of all, PAL Express offers quality travel on low fares.
