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Chapter 1 of the journey, Infrastructure: A Rise From The South. Hello, thank you for watching. This video is not about a travel blog, you would typically like to get destination guides from. This is a story of a rise from the south; a manifestation that started with a thought to a self-discovery of opportunities. The scenery you are viewing is the greenest and most stunning province in the South region, the Philippines. Its beauty is beyond architectural, human-made. It is a sanctuary with diverse wildlife, pristine landscapes, and subterranean marvels. Geographically Palawan stretches across the Sulu and South China seas; it boasts a huge variety of nature, from steep limestone cliffs to jaw-dropping coves and unbelievable beaches. Palawan has 1,780 islands and is famous for its stunning lagoons, creamy and white sand beaches, rocky islets, and crystal and blue water. With the perfect tropical climate and year-round sunshine, it is indeed every beach lover's paradise. El Nido Island in Palawan is repeatedly awarded as 2nd Best Island in the world by many tourism websites, as well as CNN in 2014. Palawan has earned praise from around the world; as a result, property values are continuing to rise. Back in the 1990s, in El Nido, Puerto Princesa, Vin-cente lot price per square meter is 5 pesos, and in two thousand twenty-two, the appreciation value is from two thousand to sixty thousand US dollars per square meter in prime locations. A similar price appreciation in real estate in Boracay, in Ak-lan, province, where the property was offered in the 1990s at five pesos and today a small condominium unit of fifty-square meters could be sold at one million US dollars. Understanding the economic growth, and innovation in the price appreciation in real estate, Kathleen Martinez, a lawyer, and private investor, did a calculated risk to discover an opportunity in remote areas in the south region of the Philippines. Though she was born and raised in the capital city, Palawan is not an unfamiliar place. Her childhood memories have a profound influence on her life when her father, a professor, and CPA, doctor Martinez worked as a head accountant of a power plant company in Palawan in the late eighties before working in the UAE. Kathleen remembers that in 1994, he mailed her letters sharing his thoughts that his sacrifices working away from home were for her and her siblings' education at Immaculate Concepcion Academy, an exclusive elementary school in the Philippines. He highlighted the importance of education and a good environment. Life in the city provides an opportunity, but Palawan has the unimaginable beauty of the South, one day; if she visits the province it will shape her thinking and so, her future. Writing and research are strong bonds she had with her father. Many years later, after living abroad, she returned to the Philippines but decided to travel to the South alone. She wants to discover what her father described in his letters when she was young. She was done in a rat-race life and wanted to reexamine her life decisions. She picked herself up because doing what matters in times of stress is what she needs. She copes with adversity and uses her valuable research skills that can analyze and assess information from multiple sources. Her critical thinking and problem-solving help her overcome unforeseen challenges and find solutions to unconventional problems. She structured the content of the data and evaluated what she could do with it. She applied validation rules to cleanse data before use to help mitigate scenarios; It is a programming methodology that can build various types of validation into a program to understand the essential data and reduce the risk of incorrect input of unrelated studies. A similar method she uses in doing business, research is indeed important to manage risk and discover a process for innovation. This method of data validation was quite time-consuming, and it took some years include with recurring interruptions during lockdown but she remains patient, ensuring the integrity of data helps to ensure the legitimacy of her conclusions will prove that her research has a value proposition in future. While you may be thinking doing business is about wealth, it is beyond that. Kathleen is not working for money because she believes money has no end-point and should not be the objective of any business owner. Doing business is not about the thirst for success. There is a higher purpose in doing it. It is about working for your dream, working passionately and ethically, utilizing your talent, and helping your community. That your values and compassion for others are a good foundation to work on your vision. Kathleen is passionate about building a sustainable business that will support the generations of her family. Her wealth comes from the wisdom and values her parents instilled in her. Hence, from an economic and legal perspective, she utilized her education on what causes fluctuations in real estate activity and how these changes can affect real estate markets. She is not a real estate professional and but her understanding of economics after studying MBA helps her in the peculiarities of the market that tells the immovability and durability of a product, supply-demand time gap, investment or consumption, and heterogeneity. From her research, she understands the innovation process from settling, conflict, stability, decline, and revitalization. Understanding the market cycle quadrants helps her to have a trade-off to give an estate owner the power to hold out for a reasonable price. She proposed a remedy in the form of helping them clear in their legal and financial matter and extends the assistance on their requirements that crucial work, but can be modern literature on the mechanism, design and related investment approach in law and economics. While she enjoyed the simplicity of life in the province, humbling herself, and changed how she views life. Doing her research is dealing with the unknown and risky. Being an entrepreneur is lonely. It’s a singular position. She is determined to work her way past the obstacles to prepare to handle herself in the most volatile and impactful challenges. However, there is another lockdown, she was stuck in an emerging place, there were power outages, restricted access to water, poor Internet connections, and her bank accounts were blocked access. She knew it would hit her hard and she is preparing for it. She decided to return to the capital city to manage the risk...The struggles and unstable situation were frustrating, but she treated her temper like her family – SHE IS NOT GOING TO LOSE IT. Her family is the reason why she started. Back in Manila, she waited until the right time would come to work on her unfinished business. She stays focused and disciplined. She works harder than her younger self and she manifested everything that all started with a thought. And the right time has come… Her research and assessment of infrastructure in the South will have economic growth during the recovery period of the pandemic is validated two and half years later, when a reportedly announced on the news, that a Filipino billionaire has invested 40 billion pesos in the South region, an investment equivalent to 797 million US dollars, to build an eco-tourism community in Palawan. The billionaire is giving back to help Filipinos recover from the economic loss during the pandemic. The project will feature hotels, resorts, residences on islands, spas, schools, shop houses, cultural centers, and as well as private villas. A development that will facilitate employment. The development project was followed by other investors and the government, a group of leaders who have the objective to build a sustainable infrastructure in Palawan. To provide for the needs of tourism, a road network is being built. The main road has 6.3 meters and has 2 lanes. The secondary road is 6.1 wide and has 2 lanes. The beach access road is 6.1 meters wide with 2 lanes that all roads are made of Macadam road engineering. Apart from the road network, the greenest airport in the country was inaugurated in Palawan. New Busuanga airport is a development project to replace the existing Busuanga Airport, located in the municipality of kaw·ruhn. The new Busuanga Airport is reported to be completed in 5-months. On December 31, 2022, a 953 million pesos project will involve the construction of a new runway and passenger terminal, an investment project equivalent to 18.7 million US dollars. Having an airport will facilitate tourism and therefore generate economic growth. The hospitality business and tourism boost the revenue of the economy; it creates thousands of jobs and creates a sense of cultural exchange between foreigners and citizens; a sense of diversity. Infrastructure is indeed the backbone of a healthy economy and provides livelihood to the nation but as responsible governance, prosperity must come with regulations to protect and support natural habitats and processes providing water, food, and material resources, while also mitigating and offsetting the negative impact of another infrastructural system. The development in harmony with the environment and the surrounding landscape is a smart investment that while promoting innovation, but also a responsible investment that creates sustainable industrialization. Indeed a rise from the south.