Palawan is "2014 top island in the world" according to international travel magazine

I am beaming with pride as I come from the island named as the top island in the world by Conde Nast Traveler, an international renowned travel magazine, on Tuesday. I have come to terms to the fact that Palawan will be getting more awards in the future. LoL. Kidding aside, I wasn't really surprised. 

Palawan has long been known as the last frontier of the Philippines blessed with stunning seascape and natural wonders. It is home to abundant flora and fauna typically found in the islands of Borneo and Malaysia. My teacher once told us there was a land bridge that used to connect the Philippines to the island of Borneo, hence the similarity. Its coast nests Southeast Asia's longest continuous stretch of pristine powdered-white sand beach (San Vicente)

The island is also believed to be sitting on top of what could be the largest oil and natural gas deposits in the world. it's natural gas reserves are 2.5 trillion cubic meters, enough to provide 3,000 megawatts of clean energy for the Luzon grid over a 20 year period. 

Long Beach in San Vicente, Palawan

The following report is from philstar taken verbatim from their website (link included).

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MANILA, Philippines — Palawan was named as the world's top island by readers of acclaimed international travel magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, on Tuesday.

Palawan emerged first among 148 islands with a rating of 88.750 as a result of votes from 76,600 readers, the publication said in a statement.

Malcapuya Island, Coron, Palawan

"This small island—one of the Philippines’ 7,107—shot to the top of our list this year with a recent claim to fame: It’s now home to one of the new seven natural wonders of the world, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River," the editors of Conde Nast Traveler wrote.

The score is a mean average of ratings based on a five-point scale—from excellent, very good, good, fair and poor.

Kiawah Island in South Carolina, Maui and Kauai in Hawaii and Bazaruto Archipelago in Mozambique placed second to fifth, respectively.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef and Whitsunday Islands ranked sixth, Greece's Santorini and Cyclades placed seventh and the US Virgin Islands' St. John bagged the eighth spot.

Completing the top ten are Kangaroo Island, Australia and Big Island, Hawaii at ninth and tenth places, respectively.

Boracay in the Philippines also made it to 12th place in the survey tabulated by Equation Research.

Pulo Beach, Pamalican Island, Palawan

The magazine's Readers' Choice Awards also ranked top cities, hotels, resorts and cruise lines in the world.

"As always, it’s a broad spread—from luxurious safari camps in Africa to beautifully restored palaces in Italy, perennial favorite cities Charleston, South Carolina and Florence, Italy, and far-flung islands in the Philippines," the publication said.