You are from Marinduque? You must be Rich!

Marinduquenos All Over the World-Enjoying and Relaxing at Amanah Forest Preserve, Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

You Are From Marinduque? You must be Rich!

This is a statement from my new Filipino-American mailman. I was surprise of his statement and ask why he has that impression. Well, you have the copper, gold and iron mines don't you? When I told him that the Copper and Iron mines had been closed for a while, he replied, "I did not know that".

I ask him where did he grew up in the Philippines and when did he immigrated to US. He said he grew up in the Manila area and has been in US since 1985. He said he has no idea where the Marinduque is but he has heard of the Moriones Festival during Easter. I told him that Marinduque is a small island south of Manila about 30 minutes by air and 6-7 hours by land and sea from Manila via Lucena, Quezon Province.

Evidently, there is a lot of misinformation about Marinduque even from Filipino-Americans here in US. This is only not true here in the Sacramento area, but also in Chicago, Kansas City, and Washington, DC (places where my family have resided since 1960). A lot of Filipino-Americans, professionals or non-professionals only have a vague idea of where Marinduque is in the Philippines. Some think it is a Visayan province. Only a few know that it is a southern Tagalog province. Most non-Filipinos confused it with the eastern Carribbean island of Martinique.

One of the reasons why Marinduque is not known to most Americans or Filipino-Americans here in US is the lack of publicity and information about Marinduque in the Internet. Even the provincial website has just recently been activated and had not been operational for quite a while. Today, there are only a few web sites, mostly personal and travel blogs describing the beauty of the island and its tourist attractions.

Six months ago, I received the following e-mail from Mr. Erwin Ricamonte of ABS-CBN TV Network.

"I'm Erwin Ricamonte of ABS-CBN Global The Filipino Channel. Currently we are producing TFC Connect, a five minute program that gives an update about the Philippines for the subscribers worldwide. I would like to ask for your help if you have contact with the Marinduque Province such as the Tourism Department. I read an article about Marinduque that you have written and I saw your email address.

We would like to feature Marinduque as a best tourist destination for our kababayans(country-mates) abroad. I'm looking for your favorable response. Thank you very much".

I immediately forwarded the e-mail to two of my contacts in Marinduque- Mr Eli Obligacion( blogger and writer) and Mr. Jerry Jamilla (provincial tourism officer). I am not sure if they had made contact with Mr. Ricamonte. I hope that this TV project has been completed by now. It will certainly help in enticing Americans and Filipino-Americans to visit Marinduque-My Second Home and Island Paradise.

If you are from Marinduque, help me achieve my goals of making Marinduque a world tourist destination not only during Easter but also whole year round by promoting my website(http://marinduqueawaitsyou.blogspot.com) to your friends and relatives.