Big beautiful country, but….

“Welcome World to our big beautiful country” sang Joe Mari Chan. Then the next generation went on Facebook and electro-hip-hopped and rapped their message to the Internet Universe that “It’s More Fun in the Philippines.”

Clearly we have no shortage for messaging, composing and singing about tourist spots in the Philippines. From Sunshine Joe Aspiras all the way to Ramon “The Marketer” Jimenez and all the unrecognized armies of hard workers, who have dedicated, invested and sacrificed to promote the Philippines to the world.

But my most recent drive around this “Big Beautiful Country” has once again confirmed a recurring concern: We are “over promoting” the Philippines relative to the fact that we are under developing our destinations and tourist related facilities. In addition to this, no one is policing our service providers and their facilities based on a minimum “standard” that meets expectations of tourists.

Rather than argue the point allow me to simply cite some glaring examples.

The Department of Tourism along with thousands of Filipinos on Facebook have been promoting and posting the beauty of the Mt. Pinatubo crater area as well as the exciting “off road 4x4” drive to and from the crater that many foreign and local tourists have experienced.

But what no one seems to call attention to is the failure of everyone concerned, responsible for, or making money from the Mt. Pinatubo tours, to construct and develop and maintain sanitary and recreational facilities in the area. Anyone who has gone on an hour and a half off-road driving experience can appreciate the value and availability of clean toilets. Your bladder and your bowels have jiggled enough to demand relief or subject you to public humiliation.

During our visit, I saw two toilets at the base or “parking” area and another two further up the trail, just outside the crater viewing area. Looking at these structures and based on my experience building two resorts in Palawan, I could tell that the toilets were constructed from the practicality of men and not the sensitivities and comfort of women and children. I could also tell that they were simplified and cheaply done perhaps as dictated by government spending habits or concerns about theft, the unpredictability of nature, or more likely because there is really no intelligent development plan for the Mt. Pinatubo tourism site.

When I checked out the toilets at the “parking area” or base, the two toilets were cramped and reminded me of “out-houses”. Since there’s no electricity in the area, visitors would have to lock themselves in utter darkness while finding relief. Unfortunately for women, one of the toilets had a three-inch wide hole where a doorknob used to be. In short you would have no privacy unless you stuffed the hole with a scarf or something to plug the hole. There was no running water, just a bucket and a hand pail that you needed to fill with water from a water tank outside so you can flush the toilet after using.  To make matters worse, the toilets were communal so women either had to wipe the toilet seats that some men had sprayed with urine or suffer the indignity of being marked by some male’s scent. 

Somehow it makes you wonder if people are blind or just plain ignorant. Considering the thousands of hectares of lahar sand, beautiful river stones and volcanic rocks, as well as bamboo varieties in the area, anyone could easily construct an entire city made from materials provided by Mother Nature for FREE!

The design and construction of such facilities could even be spun off into a national design contest on how to build using only natural materials. Yes, it can be done but one has to have the help of old time carpenters, historians and the Aetas. It would also be interesting for engineering students who could design water management and sanitation treatment on site.

Constructing word class tourist facilities in the area would be a win-win situation because such an undertaking would be sustainable and provide long-term employment for the nomadic Aeta families living in the area. They could start out as laborers and gatherers and eventually be trained and developed as guides and rangers in the areas while the “Tagalogs” can sustain the access of tourists in the area. 

Before any of the “naturalists” start protesting, it might be worth remembering that globally, experts have done the same without affecting the local environment.

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As I wrote previously, I have been on a road trip and after Mt. Pinatubo, the Land Rover Club of the Philippines moved on towards Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija, which traditionally has been called the Rice Granary of the Philippines. I don’t know if the province still holds that title after land reform, but anyone who wants to see the entire process of planting rice should drive out to Nueva Ecija and see verdant fields of green, where carabaos are still king.

Many people may have forgotten but before the dam was built some 35 years ago, the original site of the Town of Pantabangan was established in 1816 along the river and not high up the hills. But when the government decided to build the dam, the old town was evacuated and submerged underwater. The main attraction of the area is undoubtedly the dam but many members of the group were so impressed by the sight of tall trees and the remaining forested areas.

From Pantabangan, we drove on towards Baler. Before you get confused like some of us initially did, the town of Baler that we visited is in the province of Aurora and not the Baler in Quezon province. The younger generation uses the movie “Baler” that starred Anne Curtis and Jericho Rosales as their reference point. 

If you’ve never been there, it is a good place for body and board surfing especially for beginners because of the strong waves and sandy beaches. There is clearly a strong investment wave going on in the area as we saw many resorts and restaurants being built or in operation near the beach. We just hope that the town or provincial officials quickly step in to organize and control the situation before Baler turns into one noisy party place. 

One of the most impressive things we saw in Baler was the Museo de Baler that was well designed, well stocked in features, and well managed. This perhaps is the first “provincial” museum we have seen that could compete with some museums in Metro Manila considering it’s small size and specialized subjects.

A unique attraction was the town’s centuries old “Balete” tree (Banyan) that was so wide or thick tourists could literally walk and slide through. Deep in its hollows one could take fantastic photos and discover that trees can be amazing if we just let them be.