-Lee

http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2009/11/best-new-trips-2010/trips-text/5

http://www.wildernesstravel.com/trip/philippines/banaue-cabilao-hiking-snorkeling-hilltribes-coral-triangle-ifuago

-Lee

-Lee

I was recently contacted by someone who had read a blog I published about a year ago now. At the time, I was reflecting on issues that may not represent precedents toward moving tourism in El Nido in a positive way. In that post, I commented on how in El Nido there are few opportunities to do ‘banking’ related transactions while on vacation. There are no banks here and if you want to us a credit card or exchange money, the rates are incredibly high. Had I said it like that and ended it by saying to ‘just bring cash’ I suspect I would not have received the email that I did; for it is true, exchange rates and credit card fees are high. While I did end it like that, I didn’t say it exactly as I just did. Instead, I mistakenly made a connection between the only operator/business in town willing to exchange money and accept credit cards and their supposed gouging (purposely making rates higher than fair market value) in the pursuit to do so. As it was pointed out to me, this was an incorrect connection and one that I should not have made. It is easy to talk ‘monopoly’ and suspect the worst if there is only one proprietor doing that service. As I recently was told, it doesn’t make it true.

I will spare all of the details of what is involved in charging fees for the aforementioned services, but that is not what I want to relay in this post anyway. Most people in a service oriented business can see the fees justified quite easily - even the higher costs for which I was shown why. What I want to do in this post is rectify a dis-service I did to the person and business whom I blogged about a year ago. My intention was not to make them out as the bad guys, although I suspect I did by singling them out by default (since they were the only ones doing it).

The business is El Nido Boutique and Art Cafe and the owner whom contacted me (and thank you for doing so) is Judith Distal. I should have said ‘just bring cash’ and then went on to talk about how Judith and the Art Cafe are an important landmark in town; how they have been providing good service to tourists and their employees for many years; how they care about the environment and the future of the town. I should have done this because this is what family is all about. Our small town with even a smaller community of tour operators is a family. The email Judith sent made me reflect on my approach to the topic which spent more time talking about ‘the who’ as the antagonist rather than ‘the what’ which really deserved that distinction without any judgment. ‘The what’ is an unfortunate situation that is what it is; a small (sometimes necessary) service within a larger, more encompassing business that provides everything from boat tours to good live music at night. ‘The who’ well, the only default I should have applied to them was that, by Filipino definition, they are family and they deserve all the respect and consideration that goes with the term.

NOTE* Please don’t look for that post, I deleted it. The gist of it you already get…bring cash! the details, need be forgotten.

Today the town rallied against it. Spearheaded by El Nido Foundation, they marched and paraded around El Nido with signs and chants of “save El Nido - say no to dredging’. We mustered up as much attention from the media as we could to spread the word. I heard from ENF that the Dept of Tourism and DENR oppose the dredging and will help. All good news at a time when El Nido needs the support. All to often does projects for the politically active will go through against best-practices. Perhaps this will be a win not just for El Nido, but for the idea that when people get together for a good cause, they can make a difference

-Lee