Mayor vows Sayyaf-free Puerto Princesa

Newly installed Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn vowed yesterday to bring back Palawan as the No. 1 tourist spot in the country, free from the threat of the Abu Sayyaf’s kidnap-for-ransom operations.

Hagedorn, who was guest of the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo forum at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City yesterday, was proclaimed last week by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as the new mayor of Puerto Princesa City after the Supreme Court (SC) lifted the temporary restraining order (TRO) barring the proclamation of the winning candidate in the city’s recall election on Sept. 24.

Hagedorn won the elections with 20,238 votes, defeating Victorino Dennis Socrates and Vicente Sandoval, who got 17,220 and 13,241 votes, respectively.

Hagedorn said that under his administration, the kidnapping incident at the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan, where local and foreign tourists were snatched by the Abu Sayyaf, will never happen again.

A transition committee was already formed to re-establish "Bantay Puerto," a group of civilian volunteers and selected officers tasked to maintain peace and order in the entire area jurisdiction of Puerto Princesa, Palawan’s capital city.

Bantay Puerto, he said, is composed of "Bantay Dagat" and "Bantay Gubat" task forces, whose personnel were receiving salaries from the local government.

"The Bantay Dagat is tasked to run after dynamite fishers, while the Bantay Gubat is assigned to go after illegal loggers," Hagedorn said.

"The kidnapping staged by the Abu Sayyaf Group," he explained, "is one in a million chances. It was very risky considering the distance of the area. What they entered was a territory of the Western Command forces. It only happened that the Bantay Dagat at that time was demoralized, so the arrival of the Abu Sayyaf was not monitored."

But if Bantay Dagat was in force at that time, Hagedorn believed that there would have been an encounter and police will have been able to respond well and the bandits will be forced to retreat.

He noted that under the administration of Socrates, Puerto Princesa has been transformed from the cleanest and safest place in the country to a terror-ridden locality. Dynamite fishing, illegal logging and other violations of environmental laws also became rampant again, he said.

"Puerto Princesa has been a whole of fame awardee of the United Nations because of its clean environment that attracts many local and foreign tourists," the four-term mayor recalled.

"I have made Puerto Princesa as a haven of peace loving and nature loving local and and foreign tourists. I could easily do that again. I believe in the power of the word of mouth marketing as an effective tool to lure tourists to come to our province again," he claimed.

He cited three other programs that are lined-up for implementation in Puerto Princesa – strict enforcement of environmental laws, personalized attention to local and foreign tourists and reconcialiation and healing process.

He said that SC’s decision which enabled him to return to the Puerto Princesa City Hall proved that there is justice in the county.

Hagedorn was among the few local officials who went to Malacañang to give moral support to President Joseph Estrada when he stepped down from Malacañang in January 2001.

"Eversince I became a mayor, whoever was in the position, we help them. I should not be considered by the present administration as an opposition," Hagedorn said.

He said that right now he does not feel being harassed by the administration.

"We have already talked (with the administration) that I’m not one of those who are behind the alleged destabilization plot against the Arroyo administration. At least, there is indeed justice and fair play in our country," Hagedorn said.