This is Palawan, an island Province in The Philippines

My friend, Bart, Vice President at the Chamber of Commerce (I found out tonight at their Board meeting that this is only because a foreigner was not allowed to be President, until tonight - they just changed their By Laws...although Bart - their VP for many years - has no intention of becoming President)  was a Peace Corps Volunteer back in 1963 in Pakistan.  He majored in Agricultural Economics and married a Filipina -  they have lived in the Philippines for 30 of his last 50 years - here on her native Palawan for the last 10 years.  He and I look at things the same way - and get frustrated by the same things as well.  We both love statistics - and he understands economics, which I don't.

These maps of Palawan address different issues faced here and show data by municipality.  I am in Puerto Princesa - the second largest city (geographically) in the Philippines...so statistics are slightly misleading there.  Because Puerto is a "highly urbanized city" (although the story goes that the mayor pulled some favors to get it declared such - in order to be re-elected, since his term limits had expired...he pulled it off and has been mayor for over 20 years!!!), it shows much lower incidence than other cities and towns; however, there are plenty of places outside of the city proper that are just as rural, poor and ignorant as those of the other municipalities.

This is the Palawan where I live.

Child Deaths, Age 0-5

Child Deaths are high - and, if they make it through birth and infancy, many have disabilities due to poor maternal care and awful birthing environments (most of the people outside of the city are delivered by unlicensed midwives - called "Hilot".  People here don't understand germs and the concept that washing your hands will prevent the spread of pink eye...so, the larger issues of infecting the baby's navel doesn't occur to them - and I've read that the stump is often packed with mud for some reason...which easily leads to mental retardation (not politically correct - but "intellectual disability" doesn't capture the problem).

I copied these maps off the blog of a friend of mine in Narra ( - but I was the one who told him that Bart had them....does that absolve me?).  And I read on his blog that the big Philippine birthdays are 1 and 7 years old, because they’re considered hurdles in childhood- if you’ve reached those ages you’re increasingly out of the woods in terms of childhood mortality. 

Malnourished Children, Ages 0-5

This is another cause of mental retardation.  Apparently, women here are obsessed with keeping their pregnancies small...not understanding that they are producing malnourished infants, with high risk of mental retardation.  I'm working here in Puerto with an NGO focused on Maternal Care (although they didn't realize the additional issues of producing birth defects from poor maternal care) - their mission is mother and child mortality.  We are now working to add preventing birth defects to their mission.

Percentage aged 6-12 not attending elementary school

In Rizal, nearly half of the children do not attend school - even in Puerto the numbers are high - above 20%.  And, if they do attend, there's no guarantee that they will find a teacher in the room.  Bizarre to me, but from elementary to university, teachers often do not appear for class.  Students are either texted to stay home, or arrive at class to find either a note, or nothing...at which point they have to return home.  As many things here, this is just accepted as a fact of life.  And that's the beginning - there is a lack of curricula and monitoring.  I've worked with university students here and have been appalled at the 'standards' and the poor quality work - of both students and 'professors'. 

Percentage aged 13-16 not attending high school

And the numbers go way up for high school - over 65% do not graduate - in several towns.  Again, teachers set low expectations - including accepting cheating and plagiarism....good role models are few and far between. 

Percentage households in makeshift housing

Many people are called "squatters" and build their homes from whatever is around, and can park on almost any piece of land - the barangay council has a very difficult time getting them to un-squat.  And many people are displaced from other areas, like Mindanao, with its constant conflicts, or like the Badjao people, a seafaring folk who are constantly displaced and resettled on land (but are not registered as indigenous because they do not own land - thus they also receive no benefits).

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Percentage without access to safe drinking water

In towns, everyone drinks purified water - a native told me of painful parasites she got from the tap water in Puerto (the highly urbanized city).  But, this water is claimed "safe"...one can only imagine "unsafe" drinking water.

Most safe drinking water comes from filtration stations, with 5 gallon "slims" being delivered to my home for Php 35 (plus a 5 peso tip...so about $1US).  Many people just boil their well water, seems fairly safe. Perhaps "unsafe" means that their wells are near contaminated groundwater sources (as in Tagburos, where mercury from cinnabar can infiltrate into ground water).. And what access means is questionable - maybe that it is just too far to easily carry in?  Just glad that I'm in San Pedro, PPC, with great purified water only a text message away at "Keith's Aquifer."

Percentage of households below poverty level

Seems to be the closer you get to Puerto Princesa, the better off you are. However, Puerto has its share of poverty.  It has been said that people are poorer in the rural areas, but live better because they farm and have food.  

Percentage of households below subsistence income

This one’s pretty terrifying, and leads to really bizarre behaviors....like selling your children, or yourself to get some food in your, and your family's mouths.

Percentage in the labor force who are unemployed

Really low rates of “unemployment” here. I’m pretty sure they’re using a broad definition of employment, as far more than 11% of the adult population survives from one odd-job to the next or are self-employed as trike drivers, or sari-sari store owners, which brings in very little income. It’d be interesting to see rates for people with stable employment who are fully employed, that is, they work full-time year-round - my bet is that's a rather rare occurrence.  Another interesting phenomenon here is that they like to lend/borrow money - even if there is interest involved.  So, many/most of the population here will borrow money to pay their monthly bills....every month.  And, those who have money to lend are very happy to accommodate their needy neighbors....for a percentage.

Percentage who are victims of violent crime

Ridiculously low throughout. I wonder how much crime is reported compared to the developed world.  It’s interesting that areas in the south that have reputations as being unsafe have only marginally higher crime rates than the rest of Palawan.  And, as everywhere in the world, when the poverty rates go up and employment down, the crime rate goes up.  Most crime here is the "petty" variety - robberies - usually to sell the wares in order to get cash.  I've never felt unsafe here - even when walking home for a few blocks after 11pm at night.

Households without access to a sanitary toilet

Wonder what makes a sanitary toilet - assume it's a hole in ground with chemicals, but not sure.  My toilet doesn't "flush" but I assume it's sanitary.  I just hate it when it regurgitates its contents...and can never figure out why that is.

Proportion who are squatters

This data looks a bit odd to me - as though some municipalities just don't report it as a statistic.  Or else places like Roxas have a targeted effort to reduce squatters.

Women Deaths due to Pregnancy

And this map I just don't believe - again looks like folks just don't report the numbers.  Hopefully, by the time I leave, I can plant the idea of making a map for people with disabilities - I bet the Philippines, especially Palawan, has a very high incidence of Intellectual Disabilities (Cerebral Palsy, ADHD, Autism, Down Syndrome, etc) due to lack of education regarding Maternal care.  Most barangay don't keep records of PWDs (people with disabilities) because there's no need to:  PWDs don't receive benefits and the barangay doesn't have enough money to 'waste' on non-productive people.  Don't want to get depressed, but these are staggering issues that I can't even begin to address.  The Philippines has a long way to go.

This last map is from a different set and shows poverty levels throughout the Philippines and shows Palawan at perhaps 30% poverty rate versus the previous statistics of around 50%.  In any case, this last map shows the relative poverty rate in the Philippines - Mindanao showing the worst poverty rates of all.

I've never seen such a map for the United States, but wonder if this kind of poverty exists at home - certainly not on such a grand scale, but it is food for thought.

Harrison and me at 60 - OUCH!

Harrison Ford got an earring at 60....I got a Tattoo!

I came back from Olongapo a day before my flight.....my anak, Aja, had told me about hedgehogs for sale here and I thought I'd check them out...Ashley always wanted one and I thought that would be fun....  Then, Aja told me that they were illegal in California and Hawaii...so hedgehog purchase lessened in importance for this trip....and the thought of Tattoos once again filled my head.

It seems that everyone in the PC gets a tattoo....and I've entertained that idea since my arrival here.  But, I couldn't figure out what to scratch on that I wouldn't regret.  Or, where to put it.  Then, I decided that I was 60 for God's sake, and didn't regret much these days anyway....most of my regrets have been in not doing things.

There were many PCVs here at Pension Natividad from the previous batch (#268) - uniting for their last get together before COSing (close of service).  I'm batch #269 and still have a year to go....but see the end in sight and want to do a lot before I COS.   So - figured that if I could, I would get it today!

I'd downloaded a picture that I liked and took it into the OUCH! tattoo parlor in Robinson's Place, a short walk from the Pension.  The first artist said it was too intricate for him to do, but he estimated cost at Php 5,000-6,000....OUCH!  Mashado Mahal!  I told them I was a PCVolunteer and his uncle, Norman, the owner, said that if I printed out the picture, he would resize it and draw it small enough to get to 4,000.  OK!

I'd been by yesterday, and a couple from Australia had been getting tatts...today the guy was back to complete his ENORMOUS design, which he said would have cost him $6,000 in Australia.  I asked him to describe the feeling - he said it was like a pinch on the skin - a hard pinch at the worst.  I decided later that this man - Phil - a boiler maker from the West Coast of Australia - had many fewer nerve endings in his body compared to mine.  We were together for 3 hours and he kept asking me if my skin had numbed yet.  No!  OUCH! was the perfect name for me - it lived up to its name...for about 3 hours.




Norman getting all the inks and needles ready

















Cleanliness is next to Godliness

First, Norman drew the shark on my back

Then, the first of the needles hit - OUCH!

You can see how he hung the picture for reference on the lamp

Intrepid Phil - "it pinches"

But wimpo disagrees:  "OW, OW, OUCH!"

Then he starts to add the color

Dark blue first and then the lighter blue is added

Amazingly accurate to the photograph!!

Close up of the finished product, complete with white dots!

And, wow - I LOVE the result (well, at least today I did - they told me that in the next couple days my skin will scab over and that I have to wash it lightly with soap and water tonight and then be sure to keep it soft and moist, with Vaseline for 3 weeks until the skin heals.)  One of the PCVs here told me not to go in the ocean for several days because the salt makes the color fade - Yikes, no one told me that (but most people here don't swim, so I should have thought to ask).


Can't wait to get back in the water with the sharks now that I am branded.

Exciting day for this old fart - and like Phil said - How great that you are doing something NEW!

Totally agree!