00:00 The ultimate travel goal of a Filipino who has visited more than 1,600 cities in the Philippines.
00:09 The travel goal of the Filipino adventurer, Marco Puzon,
00:19 is to visit all 148 cities and 1,486 municipalities in the country.
00:29 But suddenly, the pandemic hit and his travels were suspended.
00:34 And this March 19, Marco achieved his goal of visiting 1,634 cities and municipalities in the Philippines.
00:45 He officially started on March 27, 2013 in San Ildefonso, Bulacan.
00:53 He lost his job then, but he set a mission to travel around the country.
01:00 In every place that Marco visits, he signs in the logbook, a receipt.
01:06 Every trip is documented, it's all in Excel file.
01:12 March 19, 2023, Marco arrived at his last destination,
01:21 Pag-asa Island in the province of Palawan.
01:24 Watch out for the exclusive interview with the ultimate Filipino adventurer, Marco Puzon.
01:31 Marco, congratulations, I must say, and welcome to Amazing Earth.
01:36 Thank you sir.
01:38 In 2010, I was in 76 provinces, but I felt like I was missing something.
01:46 But what was the motivation behind it? What made you say, "No, I want to travel the whole Philippines"?
01:54 Because of my teachers, I became curious about the Philippine geography.
01:58 And that's where it all started, I was wondering if I could go there.
02:01 Is the nature of your trip personal or work-related?
02:05 Both. There's work-related and there's personal.
02:09 That's what I hope for all of us.
02:13 You're close to the finish line, but suddenly there's a pandemic. What happened?
02:17 I was trapped in Cebu.
02:19 Luckily, there were people who helped me out.
02:22 When you go to a place and you have a good intention, there are people who will help you.
02:27 When did you resume?
02:29 I got home in June 2020.
02:31 Of course, you have to save up again because there was no income during those years.
02:36 So in 2021, I had a chance to save up again, to spend money on my trip.
02:43 And in the last stretch of your trip, you're not alone, you have someone with you.
02:48 You met Elpo.
02:51 Elpo actually came from Basurahan.
02:54 What's Elpo's story?
02:56 I met him and his job is to collect scrap toys from a materials recovery facility.
03:05 Then I saw him and he said, "Mom, I'll just buy it."
03:09 I said, "No, I'll give it to you as a souvenir."
03:11 That's why his name is Elpo because his mother's name is Ople.
03:15 Oh, he gave it to you.
03:17 He gave it to me.
03:19 Going to the island in the middle of the desert is one of the most challenging things he's ever done.
03:25 I want to know, since going to the island is the last destination,
03:32 what was the exact feeling when you finally arrived?
03:38 I took the first steps.
03:40 I felt like I was poured with cold water because finally, 10 years, it's over.
03:45 When I went to the island, I saw the municipality, I'm full of gratitude.
03:50 And I was amazed that in the Philippines, you see, we have a lot of islands,
03:56 there are still a lot of beautiful destinations.
04:00 Like you said, one of the last things is the hope of the island.
04:03 We all know that it's not easy to get there.
04:05 How did your journey to get there?
04:07 It's not easy because in 2019, I wrote to the mayor and he said,
04:14 "It's okay for us in the DILG to go there, but you will ask for permission from the DILG,
04:20 from the military before we agree."
04:22 When they all go, you can join us.
04:26 It took us three days before we arrived at the main island because we stopped at two more islands.
04:31 This is Likas and Nawak.
04:34 What is the most important thing in your heart and mind about your experience in traveling,
04:40 about our beautiful country?
04:43 The hospitality of Filipinos.
04:45 I'm fortunate that in my 10 years of traveling, nothing bad happened to me.
04:52 You can get to know the people you're with.
04:56 We're happy that you shared your story with us here in Amazing Earth.
05:00 For us, you are an amazing Filipino adventurer.
05:04 Thank you.
05:07 [END]
05:09 [END]
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