MANILA, Philippines - I met her in the most ordinary of situations — hanging out with friends at Suite. She was a friend of a friend and she was introduced to me through her nickname “Pie.” The regulation small talk brought out the necessary introductory info. I learned she was back in the country for the holidays as she was studying abroad at Babson College in Boston, taking up International Business Administration with a concentration in Environmental Technology and Global Marketing Management. The following day, she was flying back to her hometown in San Vicente, Palawan.
“To visit family?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied. “And to prepare for my campaign. I’m running for Mayor.”
You don’t hear that every day. Not while having a drink at Suite. And definitely not coming out of the mouth of a stunning 22-year-old.
Carmela Alvarez originally planned to join an NGO right after college, or build her own social entrepreneurship start-up company. “However, by my junior year, I realized that I wanted to make a difference back home,” she shares. “I want to build a local economy, with a focus on sustainability and commerce by using green agriculture and by encouraging sustainable tourism. To be more specific about it, I want to make use of my business education to help the town of San Vicente in Palawan to flourish. My goal is not only to help San Vicente progress, but to do so in a sustainable manner, such that both the environment and the residents are protected and cared for.”
As part of the Partidong Pagbabago ng Palawan (PPP), Alvarez states that part of the challenge is that she’s the youngest and one of the few women in the party. What comes to my mind is having to juggle school abroad and to come home for a week to campaign (which she did last March) and then fly back just in time for midterms (while suffering from jet lag). Some students juggle school with work, like modeling or promoting. They have nothing on Alvarez, in my book. As she shares her campaigning stories, I am already overwhelmed.
The PPP kick-off rally at San Vicente drew 5,000 people in attendance. Drawing from the energy of the torch parade that preceded her speech, she described the feeling as “amazing,” the crowd cheering right after she finished. She participates in medical missions and then goes to meet people individually when they visit smaller barangays. “Campaigning has been great so far,” she says. “The experience is surreal.”
While Alvarez believes that her generation is “ready to stand up and make a difference,” if she actually makes it to office, she will become that ugly “p” word her generation seems to hate: politician.
“I am aware that running for office puts me squarely in the ‘public eye’ and subjects me to public scrutiny,” she explains. “But I am not like these old, traditional politicians out to pat their egos and pad their pockets. My only interest, as a resident of San Vicente, is to improve the lives of the hard-working people of Palawan.”
Why anyone would subject themselves to the world of politics and the reputation that comes with it becomes clear in Alvarez’s case when you hear her start talking about San Vicente. She lights up and it all makes sense.
“San Vicente is a stunningly beautiful place,” she shares. “San Vicente may be the last frontier in the Philippines, or even all of Asia, in terms of dense tropical rain forest. In addition to the lush forest, San Vicente has — and I say this with full conviction — some of the best beaches in the Philippines. There are a variety of beaches in the area that are all incredibly beautiful, pristine and awe-inspiring.”
Tourism, of course, is one of Alvarez’s plans for her home. By next year, the Department of Transportation and Communication has promised to finish the international airport, making it easier to fly in.
“Tourism will create a large number of jobs for the residents and opportunities to start their own businesses,” she narrates. “The goal is sustainable development. To have proper building codes, proper zoning codes and proper sanitation.”
The well-traveled Alvarez, who lists Hong Kong, Bangkok, France and Italy as favorite travel destinations, plans to use her own travel experiences as a model in building San Vicente as a tourist destination. “I think the local people are what make or break a tourist destination,” she explains. “Their reception of tourists and their utilization and maintenance of the given resources are what could make the experience good or bad for visitors.”