Indigenous peoples, residents alarmed over presence of 80 private guards in their island
MANILA – Eighty private armed guards have been deployed in Sitio Mariahangin, Bugsuk, Palawan, April 4, according to residents. This is on top of the 16 guards currently in the island, escalating the tension on the land dispute.
Marilyn Pelayo, an indigenous Molbog resident of Sitio Mariahangin, said that the guards arrived at 3 a.m. in the morning.
“The situation is still tense. They are still trying to force their way in. We fear that the tension could escalate further as we defend our community,” said Pelayo in Filipino in a phone interview.
Documents shown to the local residents state that the guards are affiliated with JMV Security Services, “providing security services for Alpha Law Partners’ project.” The signatory of Alpha Law Partners is Cesar Ortega, former director for the Ancestral Domain Office and former officer-in-charge of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). Months ago, he filed “grave coercion” charges against some Mariahangin residents and community leaders.
“Our community was once full of life, peaceful, but now we are being harassed by corporations trying to claim our land. We do not even know where they supposedly bought our land from. We just want a peaceful life,” Pelayo added.
The lawyer of the Indigenous Molbog residents talked to the lawyer of the JMV Security Services. The security agency’s lawyer said that they bought the rights from the previous house owners.
“According to our civil code, if the person is in that property, he is presumed to be the owner. To get possession of their land, they need to have a valid court order that states they have the rightful claim and ask people to leave,” the lawyer of Molbog residents, who requested anonymity, said in an interview with Bulatlat.
“However, when asked about court order and authorization, they failed to present it to us,” the lawyer added. “The conclusion of our conversation is that they will not concede. They will claim possession of the lands.”
More than ten police personnel have been deployed to stand between the residents and the security guards, as of this writing, confirmed by Pelayo. “When the police arrived, they hid their guns, and equipped themselves with batons.”
Palawan Philippine National Police (PNP) revealed that their investigation pointed to the likelihood that Bricktree Properties, a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation, hired JMV Security Services. The information was retrieved from the transcript of a meeting between Mariahangin residents and government agencies and confirmed by residents present in the dialogue.
Read: Security guards in Palawan ancestral island hired by SMC subsidiary, police probe shows
SMC denied ownership and involvement in Sitio Mariahangin, but confirmed “legal ownership” of 7,000 hectares of titled properties in Bugsuk Island (adjacent to Sitio Mariahangin).
Residents said that in 2023, SMC initially presented a “resettlement program” for Mariahangin families, offering money amounting to P75,000 ($1284.79) with land or P100,000 ($1713.05) if without land. Recently, the offer has allegedly increased to P400,000 ($6852.19) per family to urge them to vacate their ancestral lands.
Read: Residents expose resettlement program offered by SMC amid denial of involvement
Mariahangin residents had a dialogue with local government agencies namely the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Palawan, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and the Palawan Philippine National Police (PNP) on January 7, to address the series of harassment and the land dispute in their island. However, the violence continues to escalate with the growing number of security guards on their island.
“Due to the presence of armed guards, the livelihood of the residents are severely affected, particularly fishing and seaweed farming,” said Sambilog – Balik Bugsuk Movement in a statement. “Prior to this, it has also become a part of their daily lives to take turns keeping watch in order to prevent more severe threats and harassment from armed forces.”
Pelayo said they have been asserting their collective ownership as Molbog indigenous peoples to their lands in Sitio Mariahangin. They have applied for Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) since 2004, but decades after, they still have no formal ownership of the land.
Read: Ancestral land title application in Palawan marred with delays
“We hope our plea reaches them despite the many issues we are facing now,” Pelayo ended. (RVO)
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