Molbog youth leader charged with cyberlibel amid land dispute

By FRANCESSCA ABALOS
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — Molbog leader Angelica Nasiron, 27, surrendered herself to Puerto Princesa City police on July 28 for two separate counts of cyberlibel filed by Balabac Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative Chieftain Hamidon Monsarapa.

The SAMBILOG-Balik Bugsuk Movement (SBBM) explained that this is her “second arrest in the span of less than three months” since being charged with grave coercion by former executive director of the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Caesar Ortega.

Unlike this previous case, Nasiron said she posted a P20,000 bail on the same day, with financial and legal aid by the Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka. An amount is consistent with a Radyo Bandera Philippines report showing her recommended bail at P10,000—totaling P20,000 for both cases. 

This is the latest in a string of documented criminal charges filed against Sitio Marihangin’s Molbog residents. The community has been defending their ancestral land against alleged encroachment by San Miguel Corporation (SMC). 

Online frustrations 

Nasiron clarified her decision, “Things would be uncertain if I waited for them in Bugsuk. Maybe I would’ve been imprisoned for several days, so I opted to be arrested here in Puerto Princesa instead.” 

In further statements, she explained that Monsarapa’s charges stemmed from disagreements over his December 2, 2024 statement labeling Sitio Marihangin residents outsiders focused on “their personal interests.”

SBBM had responded, but Nasiron also wanted to express her own frustrations. At the height of their hunger strike outside the Department of Agrarian Reform, she made a personal post calling Monsarapa out for “persecuting his fellow indigenous people [by] helping the company [SMC].” 

SBMM defended Nasiron. “Her prominence in “ampli[fying] Marihangin’s plight, might have triggered Monsarapa’s charges aimed to silence her,” they said.

Nasiron agreed, saying that the cyberlibel cases are attempts to “intimidate and silence my fellow indigenous people still fighting for our place in Marihangin [sic].” 

Yet, she refuses to be quieted. 

Representative of the people

She asserted that she was only showing disappointment at Monsarapa “colluding [with SMC],” instead of helping protect Sitio Marihangin. 

As someone uplifting Sitio Marihangin’s community, she saw it as a rightful critique. “We people have the right to talk to the government, especially since it is a representative of the indigenous Molbog. One not fulfilling its duties to those under its jurisdiction. Saying it isn’t good is protected under the law of free speech, especially when we’re not satisfied with its leadership,” Nasiron declared. (RVO)

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