This Week in Palawan (May 11 to 17, 2019)

Partly sunny to cloudy skies with a couple of morning showers and thunderstorms are expected to prevail throughout the week [1]. For daily forecasts, the first two days of the week will be graced by morning showers while the sun will shine in all its glory the following day. Meanwhile, cloudy skies punctuated with thunderstorms are predicted to dominate the succeeding two days. The partly sunny to cloudy skies bringing in morning showers will then continue to hover over the province in the last two days of the week. All in all, it’s still going to be a hot summer week, with day and night temperatures ranging from 29.40 C to 350 C and 260 C to 28.30 C, respectively. To cool yourself down and avoid heat stroke, wear light-colored, thin fabrics, drink plenty of water and increase further your fluid intake by munching on fruits with high water content.

The Department of Energy (DOE) donated 50 units of electric tricycles (e-trikes) worth PhP 22 million to the emerging tourist town of San Vicente in northern Palawan [2]. For the municipal government officials, the recent turnover was “a very significant event” as it supports their bid towards making the town carbon-free and clean energy-dependent. “This ceremony actually signals our full shift to sustainable transportation in line with our 30-year master plan, being the country’s pilot Ecotown, and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals Framework,” said Municipal Administrator James Inawasan. He added that qualified operators will receive the e-trikes on a rent-to-own scheme, and the rent proceeds will be used to buy additional units for other drivers. San Vicente was the second Palawan town after Brooke’s Point to benefit from the said DOE project.

Another 30 individuals from hotels and other tourist establishments in Coron were recently trained on basic life support (BLS) jointly organized by Calamianes Association of Tourist Establishments, Inc. and Philippine Red Cross [3]. The first aid training for the hospitality industry is one of the requirements in seeking accreditations, specifically from the Department of Labor and Employment and Department of Tourism, which ensure the preparedness of establishments in implementing emergency procedures.

As the six-month El Nido rehabilitation ends on May 31, the El Nido municipal government has appealed to both residents and tourists to “carry on strict compliance to laws” even beyond the deadline imposed by the national government [4]. “This is a loud reminder that taking care of El Nido should not end on May 31st. This cause shall be continuously prevalent in the coming years because now more than ever, El Nido needs us most. The six-month rehabilitation attends to be the pilot period for us to religiously do what needs to be done in keeping our El Nido a gem,” the municipal tourism wrote in a Facebook post. Spared from total closure, El Nido has undergone rehab efforts aimed at enforcing carrying capacity policies in heavily-visited lagoons, and improving the town’s water quality and coastal easement by closing down erring establishments.

The Puerto Princesa City Council recently approved a resolution placing the city under the state of calamity. This was due to prolonged drought that has caused a water shortage and affected a total of 65,445 residents in 21 barangays since February [5]. Meanwhile, the dry spell since January to April has left Php 5.8 million in agricultural production losses. With the declaration, the City Government can tap into its calamity fund that can be used primarily for the cloud seeding operations costing Php 1.8 million. The cloud seeding aims to increase the City’s water supply main source, Campo Uno dam.

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