PN 2, Ho Chi Minh and Puerto Princesa, some observations

Ho Chi Minh and Puerto Princesa, some observations

PROVINCES & PROSPERITY

Bienvenido S. Oplas Jr.

February 27, 2026

https://palawan-news.com/ho-chi-minh-and-puerto-princesa-some-observations/

 

Last November I joined a group tour among friends in Ho Chi Minh City (HCM, old name Saigon) organized by iOptions Corp. It was a very educational tour.

 

HCM has a similar land area as Puerto Princesa City (PPC) so I made this table below to make some comparison between the two cities. Not an apple to apple comparison of course because HCM is the finance, commercial and economic capital of Vietnam while Hanoi is the political capital.

 

In contrast PPC is far away from Luzon island and Metro Manila. Nonetheless this short table can provide some basic information about the two cities.

Among the lessons from HCM that PPC or Davao City and other cities in the Philippines with large land area are the following.

 

One, more orderly traffic management. HCM alone has an estimated eight million motorcycles and scooters, about four times the estimated two million in Metro Manila (no estimate for PPC). Yet the motorcycles generally stay in one lane. Many streets in HCM are one-way with three lanes, two lanes for vehicles and one for motorcycles.

 

Two, no vehicles or motorcycles parked anywhere, not in city’s wide pedestrian lanes, not even in rural villages.

 

Three, smooth and well-paved roads. I did not see a single pothole in HCM and even in the rural villages of the city. We travelled some two hours from HCM city proper to Cu Chi tunnel, equivalent to Bulacan-Pampanga already but still part of HCM. I did not see a single pothole, or motorcycles or cars parked on rural roads.

 

Four, wide city walkways, about three meters wide, and well-lighted, it is not scary to walk at night in many streets of HCM. Vietnam has high electricity generation, some 3,000 kwh per capita in 2024 or nearly three times of the Philippines. About 55% of their total power generation comes from coal.

 

Five, all houses in the rural villages have fences except those with food shops or sundry stores. The gates and fence are at least two meters from the road, some even five meters away. No stray dogs on the roads.

 

Six, no barung-barong type of housing, even the poor in the rural areas have modest-looking houses.

 

Seven, no tricycles or jeepneys in public transportation, only aircon mini-buses and they are locally manufactured – Thaco, Samco, Vinbus, etc.

 

Eight, major tourism areas include their sad history after being occupied and bombed by the US from the 60s to 1975. These include the HCM War Museum and the Cu Chi Tunnel. Captured US war planes, tanks, long firearms, huge bombs, cluster bombs, and large photos of the war are displayed.

 

Nine, Vietnam food is nice, tasty and nutritious, lots of raw vegetables, soup, tea. HCM city proper is not coastal unlike PPC or Metro Manila, freshwater fish is relatively common.

 

Ten, people are hungry for prosperity, they seem to hurry to be wealthy soon. I did not see tambay-looking people, everyone is doing something, or highly mobile and going some places.

 

PPC is lucky to have huge land area, have mountains rivers and the sea, many potential businesses can be developed.