Text by Tricia Aquino | Photos courtesy of Kawil Tours | Lifestyle Section, InterAksyon.com · Saturday, July 27, 2013 · 10:34 am
“An unpopular place” is how entrepreneur Jun Tibi describes the island of Culion, which he is promoting through a tour operator he co-founded called Kawil Tours.
While backpacking and budget travels are all the rage, he and his partners are touting quite an expensive package to the remote island in Palawan that used to be home to the largest leper community in the world.
Guido Sarreal, also of Kawil Tours, shared a bit of history on Culion Island.
During the American Commonwealth era, a leprosarium was built on the island as the only known solution to eradicating leprosy at the time: that is, those afflicted with the disease were isolated by bringing them to Culion Island where they could be cared for and treated. With the advent of new medicine and technology and as the number of those stricken with leprosy dropped from a recorded high of 5,000 to 12, the island was declared a municipality in 1992.
The Culion Sanitarium and General Hospital as it stands today. Photo courtesy of Kawil Tours.
The place was declared leprosy-free by the World Health Organization in 2006, but locals still talk of the prejudice their place continues to endure—including the ongoing misconception that they are lepers. Even if the island is just a boat ride away from charming Coron Island, tourists back then were still hesitant about checking out the island and its Spanish-era churches and pristine natural surroundings because of the centuries-old stigma that was attached to it.
“They used to say it was the island of the living dead,” said Tibi. They hope, however, that visitors find it the perfect place to recharge.
Tibi and Sarreal met as volunteers in the island a couple of years ago. Tibi, who had already done community work before, was encouraged to go by his Economics teacher, Fr. Xavier “Javy” Alpasa, S.J., to the Jesuit mission island where the latter had been assigned as the president of the Loyola College of Culion.
Sarreal, who was planning on becoming part of the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines after graduation in 2010, was prodded by his Philosophy teacher, Eddieboy Calasanz. He stayed in Manila long enough to vote in the national elections and headed straight to Culion.
Tibi managed a hotel that was established to support the Jesuit-run college. The latter’s primary school had already closed down due to the lack of funds. He also helped the cooperatives in the island.For his part, Sarreal was in charge of eco-tourism development, which saw him designing tours and training guides. He also had a hand in forming youth organizations.
“The people are so kind and authentic,” said Tibi. “You’re welcome in all the houses you enter. You’re not there as a visitor, but as one of them.”
Culion is home to unusually large mangroves. Photo courtesy of Kawil Tours.
Tourists who dare visit Culion Island are always taken aback when they witness its unspoiled wildlife and rich marine sanctuary. It is here that snorkelers can discover “a vast coral garden” with “hectares and hectares of coral reefs” surrounding the island. It is home to towering mangroves, with the greenery reaching 40 to 50 feet in height. Waterfalls, hills, and a breathtaking view can be enjoyed, too.
While there are no beaches, white sand coasts are a boat ride away. History, from pre-colonial to Japanese, has left its mark, with a colonial church made of corals, remnants of old fortresses and cannons, and a hospital where the cure for leprosy was discovered still intact.
“There’s depth. It’s beautiful, physically. There’s no doubt about it. But more than that, it just captures you. You can’t explain it. You just find yourself in communion with the island,” said Sarreal.
With local partners Elee Mar Bulotano, Renlee Cubelo, and Dennis Badajos, walking tours are given a personal touch, as well. “They used to be teased by those from Coron, ‘You’re lepers!’” said Sarreal. The three would recount their experiences of growing up with grandparents who were lepers, as well as the queuing up for rations.
Being able to empower the people of Culion is what drives the two to pursue their two-year-old business.
“It’s hard because you’re away from what’s familiar,” said Sarreal, recalling the brownouts that would often occur. “You are sort of compromising a successful career somewhere else to be there.”
But it is in the simple gestures where he finds reassurance that they are “contributing to a scheme, planting seeds, doing God’s work.”
“Someone will text, ‘Sir, thank you for continuing to believe in us.’ Or someone will say, ‘Sir, you are the only person who told me you needed my help.”
While volunteer work often leaves the burden of change on the outsider, with him or her seen as a savior, the locals were “engaged” in the business. They were also stakeholders. They didn’t see themselves as employees, but rather as owners of Kawil Tours.
The tour operator is named after the local way of fishing, which is the residents’ main source of income. It is also a hobby for them, catching fish with just a nylon string and a hook. As soon as the fisherman feels a tug, he pulls swiftly.
“Kawil” is also a Filipino term that means “connect.” It represented who they were and what they did, said Tibi.
He counts himself lucky that the community shares his passion for the business. Their local partners have a love for Culion and a sense of entrepreneurship, allowing for a clear division of tasks: he and Sarreal help market the place to Manila, while the locals take care of the guests.
It is this service that they take pride in. They had a group of Japanese guests early this year, said Sarreal. The parents had so much trust in the guides, they would leave their kids with the locals. And on the boat ride back to Coron from Culion, big waves rocked the vessel. Terrified, the kids rushed, not to their parents, but to their guides.
While Culion has no beaches, coasts can be had a boat ride away. It is also surrounded by vast coral gardens for snorkelers to enjoy. Photo courtesy of Kawil Tours.
Majority of their visitors are from abroad. But Tibi and Sarreal are confident that Filipinos will also find allure in the island. While the latter was already a seasoned traveler by the time he started the enterprise, the former only began appreciating what journeying to different places had to offer when he visited Culion for the first time.
Since 2010, Sarreal has been to Culion six to seven times after his volunteering stint. He would always find reasons to go. Now that he is taking up a Linguistics class for his Masters in Anthropology, for example, he plans to study the many languages in the island.
“Let’s pretend I’m going to do research,” he quipped, during an interview in Manila.
“When you get there though, you won’t be able to do research. You’ll just be in awe,” Tibi piped in.
“It’s just that we fell in love with the island, with the people,” Sarreal explained.
“As Fr. Javy tells us, we have nothing at stake in the island. But we are still drawn. I would say that (Kawil Tours) thrives out of that, that sense of service, that sense of being captured. And it is driven by empowering the community.”
