Paradise Violated

I spent four days last December at Bay Cottage 01 at Palawan’s Dos Palmas Arreceffi Island Resort, blissfully unaware that half a year later it would be the scene of a dastardly criminal act. Make no mistake: the kidnapping at Dos Palmas last week-end was a criminal act, not an ideological or political statement. As the kidnappers themselves proclaimed, chefs are cheap; tourists–especially foreign tourists–are valuable.

Dawns are peaceful and sublime on the island. The constant splash of waves through the night has cleaned the beach. The new light of the new day tinges the air with a lazy anticipation of good things. Shall I picnic on an islet today? Visit the mangroves and hope to meet a dugong? Or shall I "work on my tan", as the rich and famous like to say?

Because you’re on vacation, it’s difficult to get up early, even if it is for a dive or a trip out to whale- and dolphin-watch. You roll out of bed reluctantly, throw open the door and greet the day from your veranda, the sight of endless sea or the beach and the island just an arm’s length away (depending on where your cottage faces) like the continuation of a pleasant dream. It is so tempting to jump off the veranda into the clear waters below, to join the fish darting about seeking breakfast.

What a rude awakening it must have been then for the 17 bay cottage guests to have been roused from sleep by armed men kicking in the door and herding them off to some unknown, inhospitable lair. I hope by the time you read this all 20 hostages are safely back with their families and the criminals in turn are where they belong–behind bars (or somewhere else I will not be so uncharitable to mention). We must reclaim our right to live in peace; our resorts and vacation spots cannot be turned into fortresses, with armed guards keeping watch behind palm trees, just so vacationers can take in the sun without fear of crime. Let the visitor’s biggest problem be sunburn or a jellyfish sting, not thugs who come cloaked in darkness and malevolence.

Sometime soon I hope to go back to Dos Palmas, perhaps even to Bay Cottage 01, if only to prove to myself that paradise violated can be restored, and beauty triumph over evil.