Molbog leader raises fears, concerns over Balabac EDCA site

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REPRESENT. Molbog indigenous people Emmanuel San Esteban and Anjilon Flores during a presser in Quezon City on Monday, October 26.

Molbog people, still awaiting certifications of their claim to ancestral lands, protest the developments on Balabac Island

AT A GLANCE

A Molbog indigenous leader expressed concerns over the construction of military facilities on Balabac Island, which disrupts their ancestral land and daily lives.
The construction includes a three-kilometer runway, and the indigenous community is protesting the developments, citing loss of sacred sites and intimidation from unknown individuals.

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MANILA, Philippines – A Molbog indigenous leader raised fears and concerns over disruptions to their ancestral land and daily lives caused by the construction of military facilities on Balabac Island in southern Palawan.

Balabac Island faces the West Philippine Sea and sits between the Sulu Sea and the South China Sea (connected by the Balabac Strait). It is designated as one of the four additional sites under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

As Balabac is becoming what defense experts say is one of the most consequential military hotspots, indigenous people are protesting the developments on the land they claim as ancestral domain. Among the constructions on the island is a three-kilometer runway.

“‘Yung libingan ng aming ninuno, tinambakan (The graveyard where we bury our ancestors, they filled with soil),” Emmanuel San Esteban, president of indigenous-led group Bangsa Molbog, said during a briefing in Quezon City on Monday, October 26.

“At ‘yung bundok na pinagri-ritwalan noon ay wala na po. Tinibag na rin.” (And the mountain where we hold our rituals before is gone. It was cleared.) The Molbog leader also said he experienced physical harm and intimidation from unknown men.

Last May, US, Australian, and Philippine Army soldiers conducted a live-fire assault on the island as part of the Balikatan exercises.

San Esteban said their people were taken aback by the military drills conducted earlier this year.

“Hindi namin po alam na magpapaputok pala sila doon sa sinasabing EDCA,” said San Esteban. “[‘Yung] mga tao, nagtakbuhan, lalo na po [ang] mga kabataan.” (We didn’t know they would open fire in the EDCA site. The people fled, especially the young ones.)

He was accompanied by Anjilon Flores, also of the Molbog people, who expressed concerns about livelihood and the government’s National Greening Program (NGP). Flores, who spoke in the Molbog language translated by San Esteban, said the state’s program restricted them from farming and their access to food. Some lands where they used to farm are now covered by the reforestation program.

The Molbog people have been applying for their certificate of ancestral domain — an area spanning 26,000 hectares in Catagupan village on Balabac Island. Balabac, composed predominantly of Molbog people, has a population of 42,662. Catagupan, San Esteban’s village and the site of the runway, has a population of a little over 2,000 people.

Earlier in October, human rights group Karapatan denounced alleged military and police harassment of journalists and researchers in Balabac.

Karapatan said “the incident has brought even more fear to the local Molbog community, which has been suffering intimidation and the destruction of the environment in their ancestral lands due to the construction of the EDCA site.”

Rappler has reached out to the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command for comment, but it has yet to respond as of posting. – Rappler.com

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