discovering puerto princesa

Won’t bore you with the details of day 2 in palawan. Just work. Got the interviews and photos that I needed, although i still haven’t made the feature stories that i need to submit. i can hopefully write them before the day ends.

After lunch, we were on our way back to puerto princesa (palawan’s capital city). the road was still bumpy but as usual, i slept during most of the 4-hour trip. that’s my special talent – able to sleep through chaos. :p

Read on to explore the city known as the “Princess of Ports” – Puerto Princesa.

As i was walking by the capitol building, i noticed a lot of people and loud music. decided to investigate.

and i saw their beautiful christmas display. learned later that this is one of the two ‘moving’ christmas show/display in the philippines. the other one is found in greenhills, quezon city. and lucky me also found out that the exhibit opens dec 25 but was just opened that night for a ‘dry run’.

-

-

Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm

The oldest prison without bars. It is a rehabilitation farm where the inmates as the prisoners are called, live, and work like free men in the fields of farming, handicrafts, and woodcrafts (From the Palawan Tourism Handbook).

The farmer by the carabao and the other person (seen as the speck of red in the background) are actually some the inmates. It’s hard to imagine that they were really prisoners – convicted of crimes from robbery to murder.

they are part of the prisoners who are under ‘minimum security’. they have served their time under ‘maximum security’ (in Bilibid Prison) and and ‘medium security’ and have proved their trustworthiness and overall character. Some have served most of their sentence and are just being “prepped” for release.

Some of the inmates like their lives here that they refuse to leave. Although others preferred the cold bars of the prison cells in Manila because their families could visit them regularly. Most, if not all, of the inmates in Iwahig are from other provinces. No knowledge of the area and the fear of dying of Malaria in the forests also contribute to the almost zero attempt of escape.

Here are some the the works of the inmates:

The details of some of the works are intricate. What is even more amazing is that other workers were just taught the works by those with ‘prior experience’.

Most of the key chains, rain makers, wooden masks, figures, etc sold around puerto princesa are products of the iwahig prison inmates.

-

Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center: Crocodile Farm

“Aims to conserve endangered species of crocodile.” They also maintain a wildlife rescue center, ecological destination park, and training center.

i am holding a baby saltwater crocodile. i learned that they grow up to reach up to 20 ft (6 meters). they had the skin and skeleton of a 9 ft croc which was killed because it ate a human. its skin could not be used since it was already 50 years old. only 5-year old croc leather is used for crafts.

the freshwater crocs endemic to palawan only grow to about 3 feet.

more trivia: crocodiles cannot stick out their tongues.

btw, luck was by my side again. when i arrived in the croc farm, i met the group of a colleague at philrice, tita fe, arrived so i was able to join their tour to other sites in puerto princesa.

-

Rancho Sta Maria

Site of the house of former senator Mitra.

Looks like tagaytay, right? just without a taal volcano.

-

-

-

-

-

Baker’s Hill

Baked goodies available for sale. Owners converted their home and lawn into a park for their customers. Just meters away from rancho sta maria.

-

-

-

-

-

KaLui Restaurant

Ok, technically not a tourist spot. but a must-visit in anyone’s itinerary.

Great place. you actually have to leave your footwear at the door. gives the place a homey feel.

Great food. Delicious dishes. Seafood!

but the more jaw-dropping news, an eggplant dish that i actually found delicious. if you knew me at all, you’d know that would be the news of the century. :p