Thirteen private security guards linked to San Miguel Corporation (SMC) have withdrawn from Marihangin Island in Balabac, Palawan, ending 397 days of what residents described as “intimidation” and “attempts to displace” their community.
The Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka (PAKISAMA) and the Sambilog-Balik Bugsuk Movement (SBBM) confirmed that the guards, hired through SMC subsidiary Bricktree Properties Inc., left on August 1 at 11 a.m.
“The 397 days of occupation finally ended,” PAKISAMA said, adding that residents watched “some with tears of relief” as the guards boarded a speedboat and departed.
The community thanked Palawan 2nd District Representative Jose C. Alvarez for facilitating the withdrawal but raised alarm when ten men allegedly sent by Alvarez arrived later the same day and announced that four of them would remain on the island.
“This violated a signed agreement,” PAKISAMA said. The men left that night after negotiations.
Their relief was further dampened on August 2 when ten police officers stationed on the island since November 2024 were suddenly withdrawn, prompting fears of a “security vacuum.”
Land dispute rooted in decades-old conflict
The dispute over Marihangin dates back to the 1970s, when Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco allegedly seized 10,821 hectares of ancestral land in Bugsuk, displacing thousands.
In 2014, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) placed the land under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), but the notice was revoked in 2023. The community’s 2005 application for a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) remains pending.
On June 29, 2024, 16 armed guards arrived on Marihangin, firing shots near residents. Guard incursions continued in 2025—80 in April, 41 in May, and 40 each in June and July—until the August 1 withdrawal.
Residents organized 24/7 coastal encampments, human barricades, and a hunger strike in December 2024. They also joined the “Jubilee Walk of Farmers,” a 4,000-kilometer solidarity march from March to May this year.
Arrests and harassment
The conflict led to the arrest of ten residents on “grave coercion” charges in May. Angelica Nasiron, a community leader, was later arrested for “cyberlibel,” while sitio leader Oscar Pelayo Sr. remains imprisoned over what PAKISAMA called a “fabricated” 2006 case.
Despite offers of up to ₱400,000 per family to vacate the island, residents refused to leave.
Church concern
The Apostolic Vicar of Puerto Princesa, Bishop Socrates C. Mesiona, has repeatedly raised alarm over the militarization of Marihangin.
“These individuals are ordinary people who simply seek to protect their right to live and work their lands,” Mesiona said in May after the arrest of ten residents.
In April, he urged authorities to “command the Blue Guards to vacate the island forthwith so that the residents can return to their normal lives and enjoy peace once again.”
He also condemned “armed harassment” in July 2024, calling it “disheartening that some armed groups are harassing them to leave their beloved place.”
