Bayanihan Came to Town

Bayanihan is the internationally-known Philippine dance group that has for many years entertained and enthralled foreign audiences in all its performances. It is a national institution that best symbolizes the cultural soul of the Filipinos. They came to Stockholm last March 12, performed at Nybrokajen 11 and got a standing ovation from an overwhelmed audience of Filipinos and Swedes.

The Bayanihan is on a Philippine Dept. of Tourism roadshow that started in Oslo, then Stockholm, Göteborg and lastly, Copenhagen. It is a very well-thought tourism promotion timed for the annual travel exposition in Göteborg. It is accompanied by the trade undersecretary, media and business representatives in the tourism industry. The Philippine Embassy in Stockholm made all the arrangements and did a marvellous organizing job at such short notice.

The Philippines has had a more developed tourism industry that came earlier than Malaysia and Indonesia (except for Bali) and other neighboring Asian countries, in particular the Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma cluster. Tourists came to the Philippines because English is widely spoken even in the interior countrysides. It has many islands ( the cliche goes like 7, 700 island depending upon the tide) with superb diving and snorkeling possibilities. Many who avoid the much - trodden tourist places often find unexplored beauties in less-known islands.

I have been to many parts of the Philippines as part of my journalistic job and for leisure and pleasure. Batangas and Laguna were havens for diving enthusiasts, which I was but only at 50 ft. down. Not enough to say Hello to a wonderful marine life untouched and uncorrupted by a troubling world above water. I have also visited Palawan Island on many occasions, first as Editor at the Philippine Development Bank-which financed the hotel building when Puerto Princesa was a sleepy town, then later to do a report on the Indo-Chinese refugees, and lastly when my husband, then Swedish ambassador to Manila visited the refugee camp and celebrated his 50th birthday. Much later, Palawan became the getaway place for famous American celebrities like the late son of US President John Kennedy and his girlfriend Daryl Hannah.

It would take a travel memoir for me to tell how many sleepy island-towns I have been to that became well-known tourist paradises. An example is Boracay, which I visited while writing an article on the discovery of the famous puca shells in the 1970s. It is now so internationally - publicized and populated by expats that many think it is the only Philippines that exists. So many overlook other equally-interesting places in Cebu, Davao in the South or the Ilocos region up north with just as much to offer to foreign visitors.

The beauty of the Philippine tourism is that, it offers varied possibilities to all kinds of travelers from backpackers to the more affluent tourists with money to burn. At a certain point in Philippine tourism, it was so focused on Japan and USA that Europe was neglected. The Nordic countries did not matter at all. So, Philippines became a work bonus for Japanese workers who only wanted cheap sex. Then came the ugly pedophile perverts that mired everything good in tourism and created the biggest social problem ever, child sexual exploitation.

Everything in life is two-sided and tourism has created many unwanted consequences. Thus, it is absolutely necessary for tourism to take more responsibilities that it does not create, or leave behind moral and environmental wreckage. Environmentally-conscious tourism includes respect for the host country's moral and cultural traditions.