94 Sarah Webb
ever before have travelled to see a certain Underground River, the surrounding
region has come to more closely resemble domestic tourists’ expectations of what
a gateway to a natural, national heritage should look like (with a concrete pier, a
beach that is swept daily before tourists arrive, the planting of coconut trees, and
the emergence of businesses such as souvenir stands and massage huts; Carrier
and Miller 1998; West and Carrier 2004; Dressler 2011). With the increasing
privatization of space and access, public places on Sabang pier and beachfront
have been claimed for the use of “guests” of specific establishments, and signs
discourage occupation of these areas by others. Transformations of the Sabang
beachfront landscape have made certain “natures” more recognizable, accessible,
and enjoyable for middle-class Filipino tourists but often in ways foreign to
socioeconomically marginalized local peoples, such as indigenous Tagbanua and
Batak residents of Sabang and surrounds (Dressler 2011). Many of the forms
of pleasurably experiencing nature I describe as a feature of day-trip tours are
significantly disconnected from the lives of indigenous farmers (for whom an
encounter with a monkey is more likely to mean protecting fields from a pest
rather than interacting with nature). One of the Tagbanua families I worked closely
with often discussed the clothing and habits of tourists, particularly because
they considered the bikini swimwear of some tourists to be quite immodest,
and commented that those travelling for leisure were visiting the region without
purpose, having “nothing to do”.
In many ways, the lives of indigenous peoples are also foreign to domestic tourists
within ecotourism encounters. The presence of indigenous peoples in Sabang as they
travel across the Park, purchase groceries, or sell the products of their livelihoods
is largely unrecognizable to any tourists who rely on the descriptions of Batak
portrayed as a Palawan attraction by tour guides. The images of indigenous peoples
compiled for these descriptions reflect less the reality of everyday or ceremonial
life for indigenous peoples on Palawan and more the way markers of ethnicity and
indigeneity are assembled for broader Filipino public consumption (see Alcedo
2014). As tour guides narrate the journey from downtown Puerto to Sabang, their
descriptions project upon central Palawan landscapes an imagined indigenous
presence that relies on the actual absence of Tagbanua and Batak residents who
could challenge essentialized representations of contemporary indigenous upland
lifeways^11 (Brosius 1999; Tsing 1999; Li 2002; Dove 2006).
Conclusion
The remaking of the Underground River as a site of national, natural heritage has
occurred across not only spatial distances but also significant social divisions.
The internationally recognized status of the site has relied upon the labor and
cultural production of many Philippine citizens who cannot afford to visit the
place themselves but who texted votes or circulated promotional images. Further
national activations of the site through a massive increase in largely middle-class,
domestic “eco”-branded tourism have fundamentally transformed what it means
to visit this place. Although political agendas and increasing privatization shape