The Zambales vacation home of Mary Jean Bora is now a highlight resort in Potipot Island. (Photo by BIBSY M. CARBALLO)

The name Potipot cropped up several times last summer, in the many conversations we’ve had with families planning their holiday. We began hearing of people having gone there, companies holding parties, and wedding planners recommending the place. We thus decided to check out this place ourselves, if just to find out what everyone has been raving about.

Potipot is an island off a cove in Candelaria, Zambales, which is just a town away from the Pangasinan border. The trip to Zambales is stress-free, thanks to the smooth roads of SCTEX. Once you get to Iba, Potipot is easy to locate, thanks to the many tarpaulin signs indicating the directions to Potipot Gateway. We leave the car at the parking area and are escorted up a footbridge crossing a river to reach the resort. The restaurant is already busy with people having breakfast. From the beachfront, it takes just a 10-minute boat ride across the cove to reach the white sands of the much vaunted Potipot Island.

We found guests enjoying the luxury of space in the one-hectare property, where there is a choice of five houses all having similar balconies,  natural gardens with fruit-bearing trees and flowered paths, a fishing pond of tilapia for the kids, a tree house, birds flying overhead, and families of peacocks, doves, and chickens welcoming guests.

Mary Jean Borra, whose family owns the property, was our hostess. We were sorority sisters in UP Diliman and she now runs a recruitment service. She acquired the Candelaria property 10 years ago. It practically fell on her lap from the owner who needed the money quick. She took a look at it, and decided it would make an ideal summer getaway. She then built five cottages of varying styles and sizes for her five siblings.  Over the past 10 years, it has been a place for family gatherings, reunions, and sharing of blessings with the community in annual Christmas parties with fishermen and their children.

But all was not well in this paradise. The worldwide recession eventually reached Philippine shores and affected businesses dependent on foreign clientele. “The bubble burst when 750 workers in Saudi returned home without finishing their contracts. The US stopped importing computers from Taiwan where we were sending workers,” explains Jean.

As she couldn’t afford to maintain the summer homes anymore, the only alternative was to open up the place to outsiders as a resort. Mike Guizon, family friend and interior designer for the past 20 years, was called upon to manage Potipot. Jean’s son Miko was given the task of marketing. Even Jean’s eight year-old son Jubert had his input on what kids would look for.  And since February, fate appears to have smiled on what is now called Potipot Gateway.

Visitors have found in it a kind of warmth similar to that of home. Jean’s electrician, Wilson Agustin, combed the environs and used nipa and bamboo, twigs of fallen trees, and river stones to decorate the houses. Word of mouth spread; guests took pictures and blogged about the place. The feedback has been exceedingly positive that if it continues, it could hasten plans to install an infinity pool.

Email the author at bibsycarballo@yahoo.com. Call Potipot 09218837433 or telefax 3097325.