I was in General Santos City for a couple of days of work and I really looked forward to it since I've never been there.
It's an hour and a half from Manila by plane and since it was a short plane ride, no meal was served except some biscuits that no one really ate. Hey, Philippine Airlines... get the hint. No one eats that stuff. Serve something more substantial like fruits, Dom Perignon, or ramen.
The people are courteous and friendly, that's the first thing I noticed. Even the airport police were most helpful as they helped locate my shuttle. I was supposed to be picked up by the Governor's people, but there was a mix up in the schedule. Thank God for airport-hotel transfers.
I was here for work, but in this part of the Philippines, you always end up asking two things -- the tuna and Manny Pacquiao.
Imagine my surprise when I heard a different story from a cop, a cabbie, the shuttle driver, the waiter, and a few residents.
One, the tuna capital of the Philippines is no more. They overfished and the stocks have been severely depleted. The tuna that they process now is from Malaysia. The nearby seas have been declared a protected area and the big ships now try their luck from far out. Any fishing needs a permit and is monitored. How successful they are with their implementation is anyone's guess. So we ended up comparing it to the so-called rice shortage. What the heck!
As for this being Manny Pacquiao country... well, it's a love and hate relationship. The place becomes a ghost town when he has a fight, but not everyone roots for him. Talks of his being swell-headed and the like abound. There is good reason why he didn't win in the last elections.
I went home happy about the results from my work there but the incidentals -- the tuna and the Pacman country -- were surprising if not somewhat discomforting. Obviously there's a lot I'm not telling.
But it's good to be back home.
It's an hour and a half from Manila by plane and since it was a short plane ride, no meal was served except some biscuits that no one really ate. Hey, Philippine Airlines... get the hint. No one eats that stuff. Serve something more substantial like fruits, Dom Perignon, or ramen.
The people are courteous and friendly, that's the first thing I noticed. Even the airport police were most helpful as they helped locate my shuttle. I was supposed to be picked up by the Governor's people, but there was a mix up in the schedule. Thank God for airport-hotel transfers.
I was here for work, but in this part of the Philippines, you always end up asking two things -- the tuna and Manny Pacquiao.
Imagine my surprise when I heard a different story from a cop, a cabbie, the shuttle driver, the waiter, and a few residents.
One, the tuna capital of the Philippines is no more. They overfished and the stocks have been severely depleted. The tuna that they process now is from Malaysia. The nearby seas have been declared a protected area and the big ships now try their luck from far out. Any fishing needs a permit and is monitored. How successful they are with their implementation is anyone's guess. So we ended up comparing it to the so-called rice shortage. What the heck!
As for this being Manny Pacquiao country... well, it's a love and hate relationship. The place becomes a ghost town when he has a fight, but not everyone roots for him. Talks of his being swell-headed and the like abound. There is good reason why he didn't win in the last elections.
I went home happy about the results from my work there but the incidentals -- the tuna and the Pacman country -- were surprising if not somewhat discomforting. Obviously there's a lot I'm not telling.
But it's good to be back home.
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