THE PUERTO PRINCESA CITY’S ECOTOURISM AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO

PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENT1

Jazztin Jairum P. Manalo

De La Salle University, Manila
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Ecotourism as nature-based tourism can be considered as a form of

sustainable tourism development. It comprises of different factors that
enables an area of natural beauty be used for as an enterprise in a
sustainable manner. The sustainable tourism practice of Puerto Princesa City
(PPC) operates in this context. The City government of Puerto Princesa,
managing the foremost and major ecotourism destination the Puerto Princesa
Subterranean River National Park (PPSRNP) had benefited on the
decentralization of the national parks as its management roadmap in
sustainable ecotourism development in conformity with the national
legislations towards Philippine development. This paper presents the entirety
of ecotourism that are managed and assisted by the local government of
Puerto Princesa to the improvement of the local stakeholders’ socio-economic
conditions. Its prime ecotourism destination with their six major sites and
activitiesfollows a deductive analysis approach for the growth of the tourism
industry. Data on annual tourist arrivals in the past 16 years were gathered
through correspondence from key informants and institutions and translated
into estimated tourism receipts. Resultsshowed that the growth of tourism
significantly generated40 billion pesos for the socio-economic sustainability of
local residents for their community development.Several other resolutions
and ordinances were crafted and implemented mainly to support tourist
safety, cleanliness drive, and creating new ecotourism destinations. The
concerted effort of the Puerto Princesa on the preservation of natural
resources through sustainable ecotourism have demonstrated its mere
potential in generating local employment and economic development.

Keywords: socio-economic, sustainable tourism, community development, decentralization,

tourism industry,Philippine development

INTRODUCTION

Ecotourism has been defined as a form of nature-based tourism in the marketplace,

but it has also been formulated and studied as a sustainable development tool by NGOs,
development experts, and academics since 1990 (Wood, 2002).Palawan became a part of
the 74,267 hectares of Mangrove Swamp Forest Reserves under the Proclamation No. 2152
s.1981 in recognition of their ecological, scientific, educational and recreational values,
including flora and fauna and marine life found therein and other values. This was also the
beginning of sustainable tourism in Palawan to which Groth (2000) defined sustainable

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Paper has been submitted for review and publication at the BIMP-EAGA Journal of Sustainable Tourism
Development

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tourism as “tourism that respects both local people and the traveller, cultural heritage and
the environment.”

In 1996 Executive Order No. 371 was declared to which Puerto Princesa City was one
of the cities that are included in the Special Zone of Peace and Development (SZOPAD)
which contributed to the improvement for development efforts in ecotourism such as funds
for irrigation, roads, water supply, and other development projects.There are a total of
seven protected areas in the province of Palawan having Tubbataha Reef National Marine
Park and Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park from the City of Puerto Princesa.
Among this two, the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park have gained special
interest to tourist due to its accessibility and for its unique attraction for ecotourism.

Formerly known as St. Paul Subterranean River National Park under the Proclamation
No. 835 issued on March 26, 1971 reserving 3,901 hectares. It was renamed as Puerto
Princesa Subterranean River National Park under Proclamation No. 212 issued on November
12, 1999 expanding its area to 22,202 hectares. It was inscribedby United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site in 1999due
to its natural features which includes karsts and limestones. It contains a globally significant
habitat for biodiversity conservation. In recognition to the policy of the state to ensure the
sustainable use, conservation management, and protection of country’s natural resources,
the Executive Order 111 was issued to establish the guidelines for Ecotourism Development
in the Philippines. In addition, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR) issued the Administrative Order No. 2013-19 known as the “Guidelines on
ecotourism planning and management in protected areas.”

The City of Puerto Princesa became a famous tourism destination after the
proclamation of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (PPSRNP) as one of
the New Seven Wonders of Nature on January 28, 2012. In the Philippines, it has developed
into a premier vacation spot for tourists. The most recent achievement of the PPSRNP isthe
recognition as Wetlands of International Importance No. 2084 of the Ramsar Convention.
This was followed by the sensationalized New Seven Wonders of Nature of the
New7Wonders Foundation.The park managementis national and internationally known to
cater successful community based sustainable ecotourism destination in the villages of
Cabayugan and Tagabinet that greatly contributes for developmentincome generation of
local stakeholders. Furthermore, the local government of Puerto Princesa has started a
Community-Based Sustainable Tourism (CBST) program in several communities for
ecotourism development.

Given the significant contributions and recognitions of the PPSRNP to the City of
Puerto Princesa, the continuous increase in their promotion of ecotourism have contributed
to the development in conjunction with the four pillars of the National Ecotourism Strategy
(NES) of the Philippines. Thus it is imperative thatthis study will be presented to determine
the contribution of the PPC’s ecotourism as part of the socio-economic developmentof the
Country. This paper presents the benefits of the community sustainable ecotourism and
PPSRNP to the local communities who are patronizing it.

METHODOLOGY

Study Site
The Puerto Princesa (CP3-B) is located at the heart of Palawan consists of 35 urban
and 31 rural barangays. It is part of the Tourism Development Areas (TDA) identified by the
Department of Tourism (DOT). It is one of the 25 TDAs comprising 6 strategic clusters in

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Central Philippines that are composed of 20 strategic thematic Tourism destination clusters
within 78 National Tourism Development Areas. The Puerto Princesa City’s Premier
Ecotourism Circuit (TC1) is the home of the PPSRNP major ecotourism attraction (Figure 1).
Several other potential CBST site are located in the Northeast (TC4), and Southwest (TC5).

Figure 1. Puerto Princesa City Tourism Destination Circuit

Conceptual Framework
Sustainable ecotourism is the utilization of natural resources in a sustainable manner
for soft-impact tourism purposes that are develop within or in partnership with the local
communities. Figure 2 is modeled from a deductive analysis approach, it shows that rural
communities in areas with developed and potential ecotourism have benefitted through the
increased of tourismwhich contributed to the development of Puerto Princesa City’s
Ecotourism potential. The sustained efforts and generated income of the local residents
transformed their socio-economic well-being for the general developmentof their
community. This further represents that ecotourism development is part of the larger scale
for Philippine Development.

Figure 2. Conceptual Framework

Data Collection and analysis

The study has been conducted from May 26 to July 17, 2015. Reports and data were
derived from online publications, peer-reviewed articles, correspondence, and key

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informants from the Local Government of Puerto Princesa City through City Tourism Office,
the PPSRNP Protected Area Office, other environmental concerned Non-Government
Organizations, and other environmental organizations. Data gathered were compared,
correlated, and translated into tourism receipts in the basis of the number of tourism profiles
in Puerto Princesa City from 1991-2014and its contribution to the socio-economic
development of the Philippines.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This presents the beginning of the tourism effort of the City through the
decentralization of Natural Park. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
became the home of the City’s premier ecotourism destination such as the famous Puerto
Princesa Underground River, the most visited Ugong Rock Adventure Tour, and the
Community-based Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour, bird watching activity, sports adventure
tourism and other areas potential for ecotourism. These ecotourism destinations have
contribution to the overall growth of ecotourism and development of the City.

Birth of ecotourism in Puerto Princesa City

Ecotourism in Puerto Princesa was started to recognize in 1992 through the

implementation of the Strategic Environmental Plan and the Local Government Code. This
was used as a legal framework for the City Government of Puerto Princesa to exercise
authority over land and forest management located within its jurisdictional boundaries
(Dressler et. al. 2006). SEP Law supports sustainable development through development
and conservation of natural resources while the Local Government Code provided the
decentralization for authority and responsibility.

The increase in the influx of tourist is a result of the Local Government’s political will
to resolve environmental stresses manifested in the City. In 1992, the City initiated the
rehabilitation that abates the widespread environmental degradation in order to achieve
sustainable development. It is quite impressing that within the 7 years of successful
program the tourist arrivals amplified theaverage annual growth upto 73% (Figure 3). This
provides evidence that Puerto Princesa is become one of the most sought-after areas that
are endowed with culturally beautiful and pristine natural resources which could boost
tourism. As regarded by Eagles et. al. (2002), tourism can increase jobs and income in a
local area or region.

Figure 3. Domestic and foreign tourists arrivals in Puerto Princesa from 1992-1998

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 Growth of tourism in terms of tourist arrivals showed that there is a remarkable
increase from 1992 to 1998 (City Tourism Office, 2015) contributed by the devolution
(Dressler et. al., 2006) of St. Paul Subterranean River National Park (Figure 3).Thisforemost
and major tourist attraction draws domestic and foreign tourists before it was renamed as
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in 1999.The move to rename the park
made a pride for the City bybecoming more identifiable with its actual setting and location.
This further boosted the development of the City in terms of tourist visits. Other countries
became aware of the increasing economic importance of tourism (Wood, 2002).

The prime ecotourism destination of the City

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is a home of the City’s premier
ecotourism destination. It is included in the City Tourism Circuit No. 1in the Northwest
portion. The underground river is the major ecotourism destination operated by the Park
Management. It is supported by the Ugong Rock Adventure and the Mangrove Paddle Boat
Tour being the community-based sustainable ecotourism as well as other ecotourism
support activities such as nature/wildlife watching and adventure sports tourismThe
transformation of the PPC into an ecotourism has sparked the curiosity of the Filipinos and
other foreign visitor.

Globally known as the “world’s longest navigable underground river,” the inscription
of the Park in a UNESCO World HeritageSite in 1997 increased the City’s attractiveness. First
explored in 1930, the cave main gallery, branches and tributaries to over 8 km were
completely explored in 1973 and in early 80’s. Several other expeditions between 1986,
1992 and 2011 have brought the cave development into 32 km. (Balazs, 1976; Hayllar 1980
& 1981; Piccini& Rossi 1994; De Vivo et. al. 2009; and Piccini& De Vivo 2012). The now
recognized Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) is a “must-see” tourist destination in
the City of Puerto Princesa. De Vivo et. al (2013) noted that the PPUR had become the most
important show cave of the Philippines, with over 150,000 visitors per year in a self imposed
tourism carrying capacity of 500 tourists per day.

The second most visited ecotourism site is the Ugong Rock Adventure Tours being
attested by the Philippine Travel Forum in 2013. The destination got its name from the
humming sounds of rock while tapping the stalactites inside the cave. It is an alternative
tourism destination for the PPUR that is originally part of the City Government’s coastal
resource management program, operated under the TagabinetUgong Rock Service
Cooperative (TURSCO), a community-based sustainable tourism of the Puerto Princesa City.
The number of guests in the last four years is presented started to increase in the later part
of 2011 which brings anaverage daily visitation of 200 persons.

Ecotourism support activities

Watching birds in their natural habitat or birdwatching is long been a soft-impact

activity for conservation and management program for the Province in the 90’s. In early
2000, commercial birding is a new tourism product in Puerto Princesa. The numbers of
casual and committed birders are increasing in the PPSRNP, the home of the globally
interesting species like the Palawan Peacock Pheasant (Polyplectronnapoleonis), Palawan
Hornbill (Anthracocerosmarchei) and Philippine Cockatoo (Cacatuahaematuropygia). The
Park is an Important Bird Area (IBA PH053) and Conservation Priority Area (CPA77) within
the Palawan Biodiversity Conservation Corridor in the Philippine hotspot. It is one of the best
birdwatching destination featured in the “Birdwatching in the Philippines” published by the
Department of Tourism in 2009.

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 An average annual visitiation of 48 birders with an average individual spendings of
PhP. 15,000.00 was recorded from 2010-2014. This is based on the 6 persons/month during
the peak season (December – May) and 2 persons/month in the rest of the year. By
maximizing the birders real carrying capacity of 34 persons per visit (Manalo et. al. 2015),
an average annual expenditures of Php. 12.24 million can be generated by 816 domestic
and foreign birders for the benefit of birding ecotourism community. Kerlinger (1993)
suggested that most active of birders probably spend the most while others spend very few.
Surveys in the Northwestern side of the City by Manaloet. al (2015) signifies that
communities in birding sites have valued wild birds which may bring positive effects on their
livelihood.

Other sports adventure tourism related activities are becoming popular and evolved
as a means of entertainment. The installation of zipline and development of tracks for an all
terrain vehicle from private partners provided an added exciting alternative activity to Puerto
Princesa guests. The Park Management has executed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)
to the private partner for the payment of ecosystem services or user’s fee for the
preservation of the park. This new attractions are very essential to diffuse the daily carrying
capacity of the PPUR, thus avoiding potential environmental pressure if not appropriately
resolved.

Benefitsderived of the communities

A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed between the TURSCO and

Barangay Local Government (BLGU) of Brgy. Tagabinet in 2009 have provided 25% of the
daily proceeds for the operational management and development of the BLGU. Incomes
generated by the community eco-guide indigenous people (Tagbanua) as part of their
alternative livelihood were able to send their children to higher education. This benefit was
further enhanced by the Cooperative by providing medical assistance upon the request of
the community, technical trainings from Technical Education and Skills Development
Authority (TESDA) and most importantly was by granting educational scholarships among
the indigenous people member of the Cooperative. Century-old mangroves forest patch in
the vicinity of the Park can be observed through the Mangrove Paddleboat Tour. The eco-
tour is facilitated by a group of indigenous people living in Brgy. Cabayugan. This
community-based sustainable tourism intends to provide a greater appreciation to the
ecological contribution of mangrove species and their entire ecosystem. Visitors are also
given a chance to contribute to conservation by planting mangrove saplings in designated
planting area. Local residents have benefitted in this activity by providing their services as
eco-tour interpreters for their alternative livelihood.

Impact of ecotourism and policies implemented

From 1999 to 2014, the tourist arrivals greatly improved and steadily increase from
95,033 to 740,272 being dominated by domestic tourists (Table 1). According to Wood
(2002), the number of international tourist arrivals has reached about 10% of the world’s
population in 1999. But Puerto Princesa was not spared for national political unrest, the
isolated case of kidnapping had resulted into a sudden decrease in the number of foreign
guest in 2001-2002. International arrivals recovered in a much slower pace in succeeding
years (Prajapati et. al. 2007).With the strong determination of the domestic tourism
stakeholders and the enjoined people’s participation suppresses the decline for only two
years. Subsequent increase from 2003-2014 were then recorded which contributed to the
overall tourism receipts of40 Billion pesos in 16 years. Eagles et. al. (2002) recognized that
Governments often use tourism for economic development because it is relatively
inexpensive to create a tourism job compared to one in manufacturing.

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Table 1.Tourist Arrivals and Receipts of Puerto Princesa City from 1999-2014
Tourist
Year Tourist Receipts*
Arrival
1999 95,033 836,760,148
2000 106,103 934,230,867
2001 78,455 690,791,803
2002 79,203 697,377,900
2003 98,118 863,923,397
2004 120,674 1,062,527,692
2005 134,824 1,187,117,635
2006 147,806 1,301,423,405
2007 176,347 1,552,725,283
2008 221,736 1,952,372,841
2009 268,942 2,368,018,980
2010 417,593 3,676,882,562
2011 515,148 4,535,848,777
2012 654,033 5,758,723,285
2013 692,982 6,101,667,010
2014 740,272 6,518,052,764
TOTAL 4,547,269 40,038,444,351
National Date for Expenditures
* Average expenditure per day = Php 2759.22 with average length of stay of 3.15 nights
(Source: DOT- National Tourism Development Plan 2011-2016)

The World Tourism Organization (WTO) reports that receipts from international
tourism grew by an average annual rate of 9% between 1988 and1997 (Wood, 2002).
Outcomes on tourist expenditures have provided support for the implementation of local
government’s tourism related programs. Several development interventionsare implemented
such as the three-pronged development programs namely: Kalinisan (Cleanliness)
Katahimikan (Peace and Order) and Kaunlaran (Development). The City Ordinance No. 163-
91 otherwise known as the anti-littering campaign was made operational under the Oplan
Linis Program. Continued cooperation of the people of Puerto Princesa earned the hall of
fame award as the “Cleanest and Greenest Component City” in the Philippines from 1994 to
1996.

The City further imposed discipline and initiate measures through Section 51 par (b)
of RA No. 6975 that supported peace and order. Through this, the City Police Department
received a prestigious Peace Award given by the President. In the same year, 1995, it also
received the “Best Governed Local Government” and the “Best Police Station of the Year.”

Utilization of minor forest product with high economic value for domestic and
international use such as: almaciga, honey, ferns and orchids, beeswax, rattan or sika and
cotton tree. In order to secure these forest resources from over extraction and abuse, the
City government implemented the Bantay Puerto Program (Puerto Watch) in July 1992. The
first GalingPook Award given by the Asian Institute of Management and a Macli-ingDulag
Award for Environmental Leadership was received by the City Government for Puerto Watch
in 1993. City government has also invested in agriculture, health services, trade and
commerce, road development, comprehensive housing, and education programs.

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 The City government also ensures that other potential ecotourism sites are included
in the ecotourism framework plan. They have issued a several resolutions requesting the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to strongly recommend the
declaration of the Olangoan Waterfalls in Brgy. Binduyan as a Nature Park (Resolution No.
632-2007), set aside the Salakot Waterfalls in favor of the City government of Puerto
Princesa (Resolutions No. 694-97), set aside 10 ha. of public land in Brgy. Simpocan to be
developed as Public Resort (Resolution No. 527-97) and set aside 600-hectare parcel of
land, classified as Timberland to be established as a City Wilderness Park located at
Talaudyong, Barangay Bacungan (Resolution No. 527-97).

As a result of their commitment in environmental preservation with sustainable

development, it has been dubbed as “The City in a Forest.” The City was then transformed
from a laid-back into a “Highly Urbanized City.”At present the City is known also as the
“Ecotourism Capital of the Philippines.”

CONCLUSION &RECOMMENDATION

The effort of the Puerto Princesa on the preservation of natural resources through
sustainable ecotourism have demonstrated its mere potential in generating local
employment and economic growth. Continued promotion of the ecotourism destination and
unearthing more potential destinations are paving its way for wealth distribution in rural
areas. The City have benefitted in their local taxation from the growth of tourism small
medium enterprise. This socio-economic growth might lead to some adverse environmental
effects like land conversion for urbanization of rural areas due to increasing human migrant
population. Thus, it is hereby recommended that the City must established and strongly
implement the tourism carrying capacity of each and every ecotourism destination, provide
enough buffer zones or appropriate buffer zones for economic development and regulate
community-based tourism sites that are develop with guidance from the office of the City
Tourism.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This paper would not be made possible without the following: To Mr. Rene Baylon,
from the Puerto Princesa City Tourism Office, Ms. Faye Reyes from the Department of
Tourism MIMAROPARegional Office for sharing the data on tourist arrivalsof the City. Special
Thanks to Mr. Rommel Cruz of Birdwatch Palawan Ornithological Society for sharing his
experience about birdwatching in Palawan and to Ms. Marivel Orcajada for sharing her
information about the Ugong Rock Adventure and Tours. Finally, to the Graduate School of
the De La Salle University for extending an opportunity to write this research paper.

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