It’s not really all fun in Palawan…

Not really all fun in Palawan...?! 

I was blessed to go to Puerto Prinsesa this May 11 to 15, 2014 to attend the 3^rd Annual Regional Conference of AIMP (Ang Iglesia Metodista ng Pilipinas) Palawan Conference and after the said conference had the chance to visit other beautiful places of Palawan, my gratitude to our newfound friends and brethren. Words are not enough to express our deepest appreciation.

While our main purpose to go there is to attend to the conference, what I am going to talk about here are my personal experiences in the beautiful land, waters and stones of Palawan.   

The places we were able to visit were the Crocodile Farm, Mitra’s Mansion, Baker’s Hill, Baywalk, El Nido, Fuerza de Sta. Isabel, and commercial centers where we bought pearls to bring home to our love ones. In all of those places, we marveled at the wonders of nature and landscape craft of artistic people of Palawan. We literally sang and shouted “How great thou art!”

My great fascination on our island hopping at El Nido. How would I describe those mountains of stones on the sea? At first glance and going around them they looked like solid mountains of stones at approximately the height of a 15 to 20 storey building, but upon entering a certain secret hole on one side (that can only be seen on low tides) going inside you'll discover that it is like a huge hollow volcano. According to our host, there is no trace of fault line in Palawan and it is safe from earthquakes. I just wonder if this gigantic hollow mountain of stone was then a volcano that erupted when there was not yet any inhabitant in Palawan. It's like a wide wide round swimming pool surrounded and walled by high stones, or like a giant well and we were like tiny frogs inside the well that what we can see outside was only the skies above us. How I shouted as if trying to be heard in the skies, only to hear the echo of my own voice!

On our last day before going to the airport, our generous host took advantage of the spare hours to bring us to Speaker Ramon Mitra’s tomb overlooking at the sea where he survived from drowning when he was young. We were told that while still alive, the late Speaker Ramon Mitra made a will(?) that when he dies he’ll be buried there.

The last stint was Plaza Cuartel…

When we reached the place I thought that it was just one of the historical places of Palawan where a first-time visitor would have a fond taste of its rich heritage, but the ambiance here was much different…our moods shifted…

From the very entrance where the marker was/is, we were first told about what Plaza Cuartel was/is all about. I literally felt some pinches and squeeze in my heart. We knew it from our history, but reading and learning about it is very much different from actually setting foot on the ground and being a part of that history. 

And here is the façade of Plaza Cuartel…

And this is/was the tunnel leading to the sea where the American POW soldiers entered upon their escape from the Japanese soldiers, where the Japanese soldiers poured drums and drums of gasoline and burned around 150 American soldiers alive…

My hands were trembling while I was taking pictures of this. I felt that pain and sorrow for the American POW soldiers burned alive inside the tunnel and hatred for the Japanese soldiers who burned them alive on December 14, 1944. This is history, part of World War II, one of the many tragedies of war, all for the liberty we Filipinos are enjoying today.

Inside the compound of Plaza Cuartel was cool, and cooler upon approaching the Massacre Monument where the names of the American POW soldiers burned alive were written. While reading their names and taking picture of the Massacre Monument I felt that sadness for their family. And I wondered, if it is actually a kin of anyone of those whose name was written on the monument, I wonder how would they actually feel if they are in my place looking and taking picture of it?

Many thanks Manang Delilah Casabar Lodor for touring us in your place, as I have said words are not enough to express our deepest gratitude. Intentional or not, thank you very much that the last place where you brought us was at Plaza Cuartel. Imagine if we visited this first or at the middle of our tour, how would we enjoy Palawan the way we did? Sakto ka talaga manang, kaya sa iyo kami e. Ikaw na! (that’s one of the endearment phrases of gratitude and compliment our brethren used to say).

My reminder to everyone who would visit Palawan, if you want to really enjoy then visit all the places you want to and have fun, but put Plaza Cuartel the last in your list, because it is no longer all fun and merriment when you are in Plaza Cuartel…surely you'll have your own fair share of pain too when you set foot on it.