Dos Dias En Dos Palmas
March 17, 2002 | 12:00am
Mention Dos Palmas and immediately you think kidnap for ransom.
Not me. I believe: Lightning doesn’t strike twice. If you build, they will come. Besides, the American eagles have landed.
So when the invitation to attend the re-opening of Dos Palmas Arreceffi Island Resort came, I raised both arms and told my editor: "Me! Me! Pick me!" The invitation was courtesy of the Federation of Tourism Industries of the Philippines (FTIP), an umbrella organization of various travel and tourism associations, headed by Mrs. Alejandra C. Clemente, so I was assured that I would be in good hands.
On March 8, I took the 9:45 a.m. flight to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, via Air Philippines. The 63-minute flight was pleasant and on time. The Air Philippines staff was friendly and efficient. When we arrived in Palawan, we were greeted by music, dancing and instead of leis, we were given necklaces made of beads.
After some refreshments and a visit to the powder room, we were whisked to a waiting bus for a 40-minute-drive to the pier where a ferry waited to take us to Arreceffi Island, second to the last island on Honda Bay, home of Dos Palmas Resort.
We caught the tail end of the "amihan" weather so we were rocked back and forth in open sea. We all wore bright orange life vests (just in case) and midway through the trip, the crew distributed yellow raincoats to shield us from the wild sea spray. It was a wet, but nevertheless exciting, journey. I enjoyed the ride, but was glad I didn’t eat before boarding the boat.
After 50 mintues, we caught sight of white cottages on stilts sitting on the bluest of seas. These were the bay cottages meant for honeymooners. There were 10 of them, self-contained and compact, each with one big bed.
Our boat docked and as we strolled down the long jetty, the wind whipped our hair and we were again greeted by music, dancing and welcome drinks, too. As we walked towards the shore, coconut trees waved their branches, the golden sand glistened in the sun, while a couple tried to fly a kite on the beach. I wanted to drop my bags and join them, but lunch was served. The food was excellent. Sizzling beef, chicken liver wrapped in some aromatic leaf, steamed tanguingue, pusit sisig and tiger shrimps. There was coleslaw, tuna potato salad, kimchi, fresh fruits and we washed it all down with desalinated water. Yum.
After lunch, they handed out room assignments. My roommate was Arlene Dabu-Foz. I was sitting beside her on the plane, but I had dozed off before we said hello. We were in garden cottage 6A which was bigger than this condo unit I've been eyeing in Greenbelt, preselling at P2mil. Our cottage had two double beds, and a loft with a third double bed. There were two extra folding beds tucked in the attic and under the stairs.
I could live here, I thought aloud.
It was air-conditioned, with ref, table and chairs, big toilet and bath, a veranda with two lounging chairs with a view of the garden blooming with red and white bougainvilleas and yes, the golden beach. The resort also had Smart and Globe cell sites.
Amaury S. Morados, Dos Palmas sales and marketing manager, said there are 20 garden cottages that could sleep five people comfortably at a time. He told me about the resort’s special barkadahan package which cut costs to P5,500 per head. This includes six meals and full use of resort facilities except diving. There’s also a special reopening rate from March to October equivalent to 20 percent off their published rates.
I wanted to veg at the deck, read my book A Year of Meat, by Ruth Ozeki, "an extraordinary novel of homegrown heartbreak and humor and suitable for vegetarians," sez the inside book cover.
But duty called. There’s a presscon at 4 p.m. led by the Tourism Secretary himself, Richard Gordon. He was impressed with the re-opening of Dos Palmas and said, "You can never put a good product down." He talked endlessly about his WOW Philippines campaign.
General Carranza was there, too, and expressed confidence in the peace and order situation in Palawan. "The Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command (AFP WesCom) based in Puerto Princesa has fielded an additional two companies of CAFGU in Southern Palawan. There’s also a maritime CAFGU company patrolling the seas," he said.
Local government officials led by Palawan governor Joel Reyes and Mayor Dennis Socrates were there to lend their support and to welcome media and guests. Congressman Abraham Mitra spoke about his proposed bill in Congress to make Palawan the ecotourism capital of the Philippines.
Dos Palmas general manager Ivan Lim made the following promise: "We will not allow terrorism to ruin our dreams. Tourism will bounce back in Palawan." Later he announced that Dos Palmas was 40 percent booked (and counting) for Holy Week.
We had forgotten the time but were all filled with hope for tourism in Palawan. We also missed the sunset, said to be fabulous in Dos Palmas. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow. Meanwhile, dinner was served by the poolside.
It was a scene straight from Fantasy Island. Flowers floated on the pool. And the stars were out. A band played local music and some jazz. The food was excellent: Barbecue pork and chicken, lettuce salad, steamed crab, barbecued fish as big as a small pig, and a lovely dessert of fruit meringue pie.
After dinner, the spa was formally opened. Housed at the end of the island in two cottages – one for men and another for women – it had massage rooms, a jacuzzi, a foot spa and a dry sauna.
I was coming down with a cold, so I decided to have an early night and was asleep by 10:30 p.m.
On my second day in Dos Palmas, I woke up at 7 a.m. and made an appointment with the dive center to go snorkeling. My roommate Arlene, who was also nursing a cold, couldn’t believe me. "But it’s so early! There’s a business forum at 9 a.m. Will you make it?" she reminded me.
"I’ll be a few minutes late. If anyone looks for me, tell them I’m getting some quotes from the fish and corals." I dashed off to the dive center. I chose a snorkel and mask plus a life vest because we were going to Helen’s Garden which is eight to 10 feet under the ocean. Since we were 10 minutes from shore by speedboat, I wasn’t taking any chances.
At 7:30 a.m., while everyone was just getting up or having a bleary-eyed breakfast, I was swimming with neon fish and getting spit at by spawning corals. I still have itchy red welts on my chest and legs to show for this experience. While I snorkeled ‘round and ‘round the float, a lifeguard stood by watching my every kick and paddle.
I can swim, I told him, and I won’t go far. He continued to watch me.
At 8 a.m., the waves started to get pushy, so the speed boat came to pick me up and we went back to shore. I walked on beach, checked out the marine life (there were sea grass and mangroves, so the area is rich with marine life) and finally, forced myself to go back to the cottage to get dressed. For the business forum, remember?
I managed to get dressed in 15 and downed coffee and toast in 5. I made it to the forum, which started at 10 a.m. Whew!
The forum whose theme was, "Palawan, the next Bali?" invited more or less the same guests as the previous day’s, with the addition of officers from the Palawan Tourism Council headed by its president Alberto Lim.
Mrs. Alejandra C. Clemente, FTIP president, opened the forum: "We admire the courage and determination of the owners and management of Dos Palmas to put the past behind and move on to help rebuild the image of Palawan as a beautiful, safe and secure tourist destination," she said.
"The reopening of Dos Palmas deserves our support because it signals the return of the private sector’s confidence in the safety and security of our country and the restoration of jobs for the resort staff and business opportunities for the resort’s suppliers," she added.
Mrs. Clemente expressed hope for the safe release of the remaining hostages kidnapped from Dos Palmas and who are still in Basilan, and gave her support to the ongoing Balikatan exercise between the US and the Philippine Armed Forces.
When it was his turn to speak, Palawan Tourism Council President Alberto Lim compared Palawan to Bali. "We have so many similarities with Bali. We’re both part of an archipelago. We have a natural environment and tourism is essential in our development plans," he said.
He suggested that Palawan be made into an international gateway like Bali. "So tourists can fly straight to Palawan, instead of passing Manila and taking another plane. And unlike Bali, whose haphazard development led to the deterioration of its natural environment, we have laws to protect Palawan’s natural resources."
Lim said, "Before the Abu hostage-taking, Palawan had a crime rate of 4. 8 crimes per 100,000 people. That’s lower than the crime rate in Tokyo. After just one incident, we are treated as pariahs."
Palawan Governor Joel Reyes added: "We have strengthened the security of all resorts in Palawan. It’s no longer to each his own. The resorts have formed a network and together with the barangays, they’re all watching out for each other. We ask media and the local embassies to check out Palawan and see for themselves that the Abu Sayyaf incident would never happen again."
After the forum, we broke for lunch and the rest of the afternoon was free for everyone. While government officials went back to work, everyone decided to try the resort’s facilities: They went kayaking, snorkeling, diving, mountain biking or took a boat to any of the nearby floating nipa huts and splashed in the water.
I went snorkeling again, and finally got to read my book on the beach. At night, I walked on the long jetty which led to the bay cottages and sat on one of the benches and counted the stars. This was one of those times when you don’t text, you call someone.
"Where are you?" a surprised someone said.
"I am on a jetty on the water, watching the stars, waiting for the Abus," I joked.
"Didn’t you know? The bandits have been driven away. But watch out for the siokoy . . . "
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