Napsan, Palawan
(Taken from an article written for the Manila Women’s Forum Newsletter by Ms. Lisa Lumbao, MWF Chairman)
About a year ago, former MWF Chair Penny Poole put me in e-mail contact with a British man named Martin Felstead who is implementing a UN-funded community-based eco-tourism project in Palawan. "Community-based" means that the communities living in the tourism sites are the main planners, decision-makers, implementers and beneficiaries of the project. This approach takes more time up-front, but is much more effective than conventional project and resort development.
I was hoping to meet Martin the next time I went to Palawan. I had the chance this week when I took my friend Perla up on her invitation to visit her place in Napsan, a small, isolated community on the west coast of Palawan.
Perla, a Filipino-American who shuttles between California, Manila and Napsan, owns a 5- hectare piece of land right on the beach and has built three small guest cottages. On Wednesday I flew to Puerto Princesa (PAL was five hours late!) where I was met by Perla and a waiting jeepney. Martin and his wife decided to join us so they could make recommendations for reviving a failed government-run tourism site. After a two-hour ride over rivers and steep gullies, we arrived at the drop-off point and loaded our big block of ice, coolers full of fish and bags onto a bamboo sled pulled by a carabao. We couldn’t see much in the dark, but the stars were incredibly numerous and bright and the sound of the waves mesmerizing.
The next morning we were awed by the beauty
of the beach, the forested mountains and drank in the fresh air
and solitude. In the three days I was there, I saw only five or
six other people on that beach and no garbage. Amazing!!
Although Perla has been assisting
the Napsan community (Bagobuk Community Multi-purpose Co-op) for many years by helping strengthen a
village cooperative, establishing a day-care center, funding
scholarships and bringing in volunteer teachers, she recently
decided to get more involved and try to overcome some of the
constraints to the area’s development and reduce the level
of poverty - while preserving the natural beauty of Napsan’s
forests and sea. She dropped by my office a few months ago asking
for funding agency referrals. She explained that the cooperative
had applied for a Community-Based Forest Management agreement
from the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources, and had started a cacao demonstration
farm inside the forest. The cooperative also would like to
conduct training and provide loans for other livelihood projects,
the first of which would be organic gardening and the production
and marketing of 
organic fertilizer. I gave her lots of contacts at
various organizations that fund rural development projects and
put her in touch with Martin. To her credit, Perla did the
time-consuming work of calling them, writing proposals and
following up. She jokingly introduces herself as "The CBO"
- The Chief Begging Officer! The first one to show the most
interest was my landlord, who runs not one, but three, family
foundations.
Perla was so excited, telling me about the grilling he gave her on the phone and how she kept her cool in explaining and defending her proposal. When he asked how her project was so different from the thousands of other project opportunities in poor communities throughout the Philippines, she said, "Well, we have to start somewhere. As Mother Theresa said, every drop in the ocean counts." He retorted, "But you’re asking for a very big drop!" But she knew she was getting somewhere when he started quoting prices of used trucks that he had inquired about. (Note: My landlord did visit Napsan and left with a commitment to donate a six-wheel truck, free training for six co-op members at a model farm that his foundation runs, teaching aids for the Daycare Center, purchase of a cashew nut-cracker, and funding a study on how to eradicate malaria mosquitoes. He also left money to buy a transistor radio for the forest workers!)
Another contact to whom I referred Perla was Tony de Castro of the Center for Renewable Resources and Energy Efficiency. CRREE has received funding from the UNDP for a first-ever (in Asia) initiative to set up business and livelihood opportunities in Palawan through the use of solar, wind, water, and bio-mass energy resources. CRREE has agreed to work as a partner with the cooperative, particularly in the processing of Napsan’s abundant produce such as cashews, fish, copra, rice, and mangoes. There are also plans to put up an ice plant.
During my visit we went to the cacao demo farm and saw what a great job the co-op has been doing despite lack of funds. They have an agreement with the Cacao Foundation of the Philippines to grow cacao for them in exchange for technical assistance and monthly payments totaling P200,000 over 36 months. However, after paying the coop P10,000 per month in November and December, the foundation representative disappeared. The workers don’t even have money to buy rice, but they kept working, planting 14,000 seeds in a shaded clearing in the forest. (Note: Perla has since been able to obtain from the Governor of Palawan 1,000 kilos of premium rice, cans of sardines, accessories and material for the irrigation system. A water pump, hand tractor, portable rice miller and rice thresher were also "coaxed" from the Mayor of the City of Puerto Princesa - a feat in intself! Both have been Perla’s long-time friends, and are delighted that she has fulfilled a promise she made almost 10 years ago to return to "do something good" for Palawan.)
Perla and I met with the parish priest (right: photo of Napsan church), who is the driving force behind the
cooperative, to discuss how to deal with the problem. We also put
together a proposal for the UNDP Small Grants program. I’m
confident that with the hard work that Perla is doing, combined
with the enthusiasm of the parish priest and the cooperative
members, Napsan will succeed in improving its standard of living
while also protecting its beautiful environment.
As for me, I can’t wait to go back to Perla’s piece of paradise on the beach. There is no electricity, no running water and lots of biting sand flies, but these are a small price to pay for the beauty and wonder of such an unspoiled place. As if to remind me not to forget its magic, we saw a huge double rainbow as we walked down the beach to leave for Puerto Princesa. (And the PAL flight was four hours late this time!!)
