I WILL be flying back to Puerto Princesa in Palawan this weekend, less than a month after the Dragon Boat World Championship hosted by the city government, its biggest international hosting so far.

This time, Puerto Princesa is hosting the Batang Pinoy in partnership with the Philippine Sports Commission(PSC) from November 23 to 28, which in turn will be immediately followed by the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Friendship Ganes from December 1 to 5, also an initiative of the PSC.

And actually before the dragon boat event, Puerto Princesa was also the host city of the Southern Tagalog Regional Association of State Universities and Colleges (STRASUC).

Just a few days ago, the city was also awarded in Cebu as the Philippine Sports Tourism Government Organizer of the Year by the Philippine Sports Tourism Awards group headed by Charles Lim.

Next year, lined up already are athe Ironman 70.3 trathlon, a World Table Tennis Youth Contender, the third hosting already I think, and the MIMAROPA regional meet, all happening just in the first quarter. And who knows, when he met PSC Chairnan Richard Bachmann at the dragon boat event, they discussed the possibility of Puerto Princesa hosting the Philippine National Games.

No wonder Puerto Princesa Mayor Lucilo Bayron aims to become the sports tourism capital of the Philippines saying the city already has succeeded in its eco-tourism program previously and is now shifting to sports tourism.

When I was there in Puerto Princesa for the dragon boat championship, I had the opportunity to sit down with Mayor Bayron not just once but twice, the second a three hour dinner with PSC consultant JR Espinosa two other guests in a popular seafoods restaurant in the city, the first one was a mirienda at the Baywalk during the event.

And the Mayor shared a lot of his dreams and plans for his city that includes being recognized as the country’s sports tourism capital.

For one, he cites accessibility to the city by boat or plane, also, the city boasts of many sports facilities including the Ramon Mitra Sports Complex and Fitness Park and the Edward Hagedorn Coliseum where the dragon boat vctory party was held.

Water sports facilities are already a given and proven, including a good surfing area already popular among local and international surfers.

The sports complex boasts of 5 covered volleyball courts, 2 for basketball abd volleyball, 2 tenns courts, track & field facilities, 3 swimming pools, and a multi sports center, the coliseum is for big basketball events including PBA games.

There is also a plan to build a skateboarding rink in the city, according to Mayor Bayron.

What is nice is Puerto Princesa also offers plenty of tourist attractions, its good beaches, mountains, the world famous underground river, and definitely good sea foods, the latter I will vouch for anytime.

But there is more to the Mayor’s dream.

He has another dream for his beloved city of Puerto Princesa, he wants to make it the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) capital of the country and has his blue print for it.

This includes developing a new area that will feature really big two convention centers that can accommodate up to 70K people with a mixed use commercial area of hotels and entertainment as part of the big plan, right now, the city has about 7K available rooms for visitors.

It seems for Mayor Bayron, when he dreams, he dreams real big, and that is how progress and development start, with dreams.

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Lito Cinco