Palawan indigenous people endure one year of intimidation and harassment

By Francessca Abalos
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — On June 29, Sambilog – Balik Bugsuk Movement commemorated the first year of the violent attack by the armed guards of San Miguel Corporation (SMC) in Sitio Marihangin, Bugsuk, Balabac, Palawan. 

“What began as a violent incursion has turned into a year-long occupation,” Sambilog said in a statement. The attacks targeted Sitio Marihangin’s “158 Molbog and Cagayanen families” because of SMC eco-tourism project, which covers over 5,000 hectares of Bugsuk Island, including their community’s ancestral lands. 

Since the June 29, 2024 open firing incident by JMV Security Services guards — deployed by SMC through subsidiary Bricktree Properties—the community has continually been harassed. An additional 80 guards invaded the community on April 4, joining the original 16 on-island. Over a month later, on May 18, another 40 armed guards entered the island.

As such, Sambilog expressed that they stand “in solemn remembrance and unwavering resistance” with Molbog residents and their fight, reiterating the community’s demands for accountability in the face of government complicity:

• SMC’s immediate withdrawal from Sitio Marihangin;
• Full recognition of the community’s 2005 Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) application;
• Reversal of the Department of Agrarian Reform’s (DAR) 2023 revoking of the 2014 Notice of Coverage for 10,821 hectares—a decision that escalated Molbog residents’ mistreatment;
• Removal of SMC’s armed guards by the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police; and
• A Commission of Human Rights-led investigation into the human rights violations experienced by the community and the reinstatement of 1974-1975 evictees and their heirs to their rightful ancestral lands. 

Land to law

These demands reflect the current reality of the Sitio Marihangin community whose daily lives have been severely disrupted. Since the April 4 incursion by the guards, Molbog residents have held vigil over their land to safeguard their community. They recently reached the 87th day of continuous nightly lookouts. 

However, efforts to displace the Sitio Marihangin community go beyond physical force. SMC affiliates have also intensified legal actions against the Molbog residents. 

Ten Molbog residents were arrested on May 16  on a “grave coercion” case filed by former National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Director Caesar M. Ortega and brought to Brooke’s Point for detainment. They were later released on bail after supporters crowdsourced money to pay their bond. 

A day later, 64-year-old community leader Oscar “Condo” Pelayo was apprehended on an “illegal fishing” charge from 2006. 

But the Sitio Marihangin community has also begun asserting themselves in the court of law. On June 18, six of its community leaders represented the Molbog and Cagayanen families in an injunction hearing against Ortega. They filed a petition to remove the armed guards, who are tied to their land dispute with SMC. 

“[The government’s]  actions do not reflect public interest—they legitimize and enable land grabs all rooted in a legacy of dispossession that began with Eduardo ‘Danding’ Cojuanco’s forced evictions during Martial Law in 1974–1975 in the Bugsuk and Pandanan Islands,” Sambilog stated.

“Our sacred land is not a resort,” leader Anglica Nasiron said in a statement. “It is the heart of our people’s memory, dignity ang survival. We call on all Filipinos, government institutions, and civil society to reject impunity and corporate violence.”

She added that their struggle is not just about land – it is about truth, resistance, and justice. “Let us reclaim what has been stolen not only from the indigenous peoples of Bugsuk but from out shared moral fabric.” (AMU, RVO) 

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