VIET VILLE Puerto Princesa

Another thing unheard of in my case. I never thought there is a Vietnamese community in Puerto Princesa. Or maybe somebody did mention it before but I was not paying attention. And it's really fascinating to know that during the Vietnam war, many Vietnamese refugees or boat people as the were popularly referred to traveled across South China Sea to the Philippines and eventually settled in Zambales and Palawan. They sure know how to pick a good spots. The temporary refuge given to them in Puerto Princesa Palawan is known as VIET VILLE. 

Vietnamese Village of Puerto Princesa palawan (Viet Ville)

During that time, the city government of Puerto Princesa was generous enough to accept them and even allotted an area for them a few kilometers away from the city center. But when we visited there last month, we didn't see any of the Vietnamese people of  VietVille. We heard that most of them already migrated to the US as the American government offered them free entry into the country and thereby American citizenship. Who wouldn't bite into that anyway?



Some have also relocated to downtown Puerto Princessa and have started businesses there.

Our guide was a joker. On top of that, our blogger friends during the tour were also a bunch of funny people. When the guide said most of them already are in the US, somebody exclaimed that actually there are 2 of them left in the village but it was Saturday when we came and according to the other bloggers, the 2 are on a shopping spree so only the Filipino maids are in the village.hahaha.

I didn't know what to believe anymore. For sure, I didn't notice any inhabitants there that time. The village seemed like a ghost towm. A well maintained ghost town. Creepy ayt? A little.


I heard that at it’s peak there were as many as 1500 people living in this camp which was set up as a temporary center while they were seeking permanent resettlement elsewhere.

Well, it's comforting to know though that the village looks like a typical Filipino neigborhood. Or that something to celebrate about? This place is not really part of any of the tour itineraries during the tour but having  seasoned travel bloggers in the group like Enrico Dee of http://www.byahilo.com/#axzz1SVLd3QNA and Winston Almendras of http://www.batangyagit.com/ means not missing any significant landmark in the area.


So we dropped by VIET VILLE before heading to Sabang where the Underground river is.


The first thing you will notice when you enter Viet Ville is the Church on the right side. I was surprised that while the church has a little touch of Vietnamese architecture, it's interestingly more Christian. SO these Vietnamese immigrants were Christians to start with or were just converted during their stay? I just hope they were not forcefully converted you know.

On the right side of the church is an arc and under it is the statue of Virgin Mary. As I said a while ago, the village doesn't have much of a Vietnamese feel to it so I was a little disappointed. It would have been better if these refugees were given a temporary place to stay and still got to keep their culture and architecture in tact. Or maybe this is how they are in the first place? I am not sure.


Our very short side trip on VietVille definitely left so many questions in my mind unanswered so I tried to google more information about it. There is this interesting story that I found online which brought back feeling I had during our short stay there. While this Vietnamese village in Puerto Princesa seemingly looks like a ghost town now, it is a testament of the sacrifices, sufferings and resilience of the Vietnamese people for survival and fight for a decent and free life. That earns them a very big respect from my heart.

syempre wala ako sa pic kasi ako photog--huhuhu

Read an interesting story about a Vietnamese refugee named Than Minh Dong by clicking the link below.http://www.palawan.com/articles.php?article_id=53

This was part of our city tour of Puerto Prinsesa sponsored by AirPhil Express.

Full tour summary here : http://www.pusangkalye.net/2011/06/airphil-express-puerto-prinsesa-happy.html
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AirPhil Express flies twice daily to Puerto Prinsesa Palawan.
http://www.airphilexpress.com/