Palawan being an insurgency-free province will play a "very large part" in Philippine tourism and in transforming the economy, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said.
Marcos said that the declaration will be a key part of the country's goal towards economic transformation as tourism plays a large part of it.
"Palawan is already a very large part of all our plans for transformation of the economy. Tourism plays a very very large part in that and Palawan plays a very very large part in Philippine tourism," Marcos said on Friday, Sept. 1.
The President stressed that if there is no security and peace in a community, investment will not come in.
Changing the minds of investors and tourists about Palawan and other parts of the region, he said, is what the government is trying to gradually achieve now.
"Alam naman natin na Palawan is very tourist sensitive. Alam naman natin sasabihin nila may nangyari sa Jolo, wala nang turistang gustong pumunta rito dahil nga sasabihin: magulo sa Pilipinas. Huwag na tayo dun, dun tayo sa ibang lugar (We know that Palawan is very tourist sensitive. We know that when something happens in Jolo, they would opt not to come because they say: Philippines is not safe. Let's not go there, let's just go to other places)," Marcos said.
"That is the problem that we are slowly solving now because unless you have a peaceful community, unless you have security in the area, ang hirap talagang maka-attract ng investment (it is difficult to attract investment)," Marcos added.
The Chief Executive further said that the local government of Palawan has many plans in place to ensure that the province will maintain its insurgency-free status.
A series of socio-economic support programs and packages were launched by Region IV-B or MIMAROPA (Mindoro [Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro], Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) Regional Task Force- End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF– ELCAC) and Provincial Task Force-ELCAC clusters, along with information and awareness campaigns to ensure the welfare of former rebels.
Other programs were also extended to them under the national government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) and the provincial government’s Local Social Integration Program (LSIP).