By Jojie Alcantara
Photos by Paolo Petrignanti/LA VENTA
My excitement upon visiting Puerto Princesa came from curiosity at first. I’m from Davao City, which has a lot in common with Puerto Princesa. Apart from both claiming to be the largest city in the country (Davao has a land area of 244,000 hectares, and Puerto Princesa has 253,982 hectares), both are also consistent and proud recipients of Presidential Awards like the Cleanest and Greenest Highly-Urbanized City in the Philippines.
But once I arrived at the airport for a three-day trip, my mind became more open to exploration. Puerto Princesa is teeming with lush, dense forests, amazing and unique species of flora and fauna (I have read that Palawan was once connected to mainland Borneo millions of years ago, thus having closer similarities with the wildlife of Borneo). Imagine living in a quiet provincial city with a tropical paradise within its borders.
