Nario, a fisherman and father to two young children, now patrols the beaches of Mariahangin Island at night, joining a vigil of volunteer families. Two years ago, he made a decision that would uproot his family from their ancestral home on this idyllic island in southern Palawan—a decision he has since come to regret. Like many of his neighbors, members of the Molbog and Cagayanen indigenous communities, he had been lured by an offer of relocation presented by representatives of San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

In June 2023, Mariahangin residents were called to a village meeting where SMC’s special projects manager, Michaella Rosales, presented a relocation offer as part of the “Malasakit Program ni Ramon S. Ang.” Ramon S. Ang is the chair and CEO of SMC, and the program’s banner explicitly bore his name. Rosales displayed tarpaulins stating that the money was “tulong pinansyal,” or financial aid. Initial offers ranged from ₱75,000 to ₱100,000 per family. Members of the Isa clan—acknowledged to be the original Molbog inhabitants of Mariahangin—were offered ₱400,000 per family.

Nario, a descendant of the Isa clan, said he was promised the maximum ₱400,000, although he expected ₱300,000 to demolish his house.

But the reality fell far short of the promise: He said he received only ₱100,000 from an intermediary he knew only by the alias “Aguila.” Residents identified Aguila as the leader of the security guards deployed to Mariahangin by lawyer Cesar Ortega, who represents nine private individuals claiming ownership of nearly all of Mariahangin. 

In an interview, Ortega admitted to contracting a security company to enforce his clients’ claims.

San Miguel Corp.’s stance

Queried about its involvement in Mariahangin, SMC subsidiary Bricktree Properties Inc. admitted to having an initial interest in purchasing properties on the island, saying that local landowners had approached them with an offer to sell. 

In a statement to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Bricktree president Karen V. Ramos said they agreed to study the offer and expressed willingness to support local government resettlement efforts. But, she added, they ultimately declined the offer to buy the land. 

Ramos suggested that the meeting in which the “Malasakit Program ni Ramon S. Ang” was presented may have caused “confusion” about the company’s intent.

SMC has repeatedly denied any property holdings or future development plans for Mariahangin. It also denied making payoffs to compel families to leave or deploying security personnel there. 

The company maintains that its activities are limited to neighboring Bugsuk Island, where Bricktree is developing a 5,500-hectare luxury resort. Due for completion in 2028, the project includes a three-kilometer runway, high-end villas, various resort facilities, and other infrastructure.

Once a forgotten 38-hectare island named after the winds that blow through it, Mariahangin is close to Sabah and part of the municipality of Balabac, the country’s gateway to the fast-growing Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). Remote and accessible only by boat, Mariahangin will soon be the site of two airports and a roro (roll-on, roll-off) sea port, making it more accessible to trade and tourism. The area is now potentially valuable real estate.

On June 29, 2024, Mariahangin residents confronted armed guards of JMV Securities who had been sent by Ortega. One of the guards fired at the islanders, though no one was injured. SMC denied any involvement and said that Ortega, a central figure claiming to represent landowners, is “not connected to SMC in any capacity—particularly not in relation to Mariahangin.”

Despite these clarifications, Nario said: “They did not keep to their promise, so I had no choice but to come back here. We had nowhere else to go.” His disillusionment led him to return and make amends with his former community, and is now joining the nightly vigil at the beach against outsiders staking a claim to their land.

The plight of the relocated

Nario’s story is not unique. Nearly half of Mariahangin’s original 200 families chose to leave, driven by escalating pressures and corporate offers. Their journey signifies a profound shift in livelihood, community, and security. They spoke to reporters but asked not to be named because they feared for their safety.

Emil, another Molbog descendant of the Isa clan, said he received ₱400,000 in full for abandoning his ancestral home. However, the money quickly evaporated, spent on his four children’s education, family debts, and daily food expenses. Emil claimed that SMC reneged on its promise to provide alternative livelihood support. He said he considered returning but feels he isn’t welcome, as those who left are “looked down upon” by those who remained and resisted. 

Feeling abandoned by both his community and the government, Emil despaired. “I can’t even feel the government is interested in my case. I thought of joining the NPA (New People’s Army), but I don’t see them around anymore,” he said.

Loida shared a similar narrative of pressure and partial fulfillment, saying that she received ₱80,000 from “Aguila.” She said she was told the balance of ₱320,000 depended on her demolishing her parents’ ancestral home, which her parents forbade her from doing.

A critical, recurring detail in these accounts is the lack of formal agreements. Nario, Emil, and Loida all said these transactions were “mostly verbal” and lacked formal documents. Emil said he signed a paper but was not given a copy. Residents could not show any documentary evidence of engaging with SMC, Bricktree or Ortega, highlighting the informal nature of these deals.

Some 30 to 60 Mariahangin families were resettled in Litason, a village in Bataraza on the Palawan mainland, on property acquired by Bricktree. The company provided basic services, including a water pump and a multipurpose hall bearing its name that also functions as a day-care facility. A salt-making facility was also introduced as a potential livelihood project. 

Bricktree’s Ramos said the resettlement area was not the company’s initiative but was built as “a gesture of goodwill and in response to a request from the local government.”

Despite these improvements, life in Litason presents challenges: Access is limited to a dirt road that becomes muddy in the rainy season, and fishing residents must navigate dense mangroves to reach the sea, unlike their direct access in Mariahangin. There are also rumors of another impending relocation from Litason to Bangkalaan to make way for a planned boardwalk.

Escalating tensions 

The less than 90 families who remain on Mariahangin consider the island their ancestral home. “You can be poor but you will never go hungry here,” said Jilmani Naseron, a community leader. Residents rely on fishing and agar-agar (seaweed) farming, and grow vegetables and rice, finding abundant sustenance. This is why they have formed human barricades to prevent “unwanted intruders” from setting foot on their land.

To residents, SMC’s involvement in Mariahangin was evident. Rosales, SMC’s special projects manager, not only presented the relocation offers; she was also seen accompanying Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) officials and lawyer Ortega on June 27, 2024, to serve a ruling removing the island from land reform coverage. She was present at a meeting in the Bricktree Multi-Purpose Hall in Litason, speaking to relocated residents.

In addition, an undated photo shows Ortega with SMC chief Ang. One of Ortega’s clients, a DAR petitioner who successfully sought to exempt Mariahangin from land reform, referred to Ang as “boss” in a social media post. In an interview, Ortega claimed that his clients, the landowners, are covering the costs of security guards and relocation offers, stating that litigation is “too expensive” compared to an extrajudicial approach.

Tensions began to escalate in Mariahangin when some security guards fired upon local residents who had barricaded them upon their arrival last year, with the intent to deploy approximately 80 personnel. No one was reported injured.

After that incident, some security guards abandoned the island. But others remained and set up makeshift tents near the shore and in the island’s forested areas.

Ortega has filed coercion charges against 10 Mariahangin residents following an incident in which he, along with SMC and DAR staff, were prevented from setting foot on the island. The incident led to arrests, which required each respondent to post bail of ₱36,000.

Angelica Nasiron, one of the accused, described the case as “a clear form of harassment,” saying that she was not even in Mariahangin when the incident occurred. Additionally, Oscar Pelayo Sr., a 64-year-old community leader, was arrested based on a 2006 illegal fishing case. His family alleged that this was a form of harassment involving planted evidence.

Continued displacement and resistance

Balabac, the municipality to which Mariahangin and nearby islands belong, has a history of displacement dating back to the martial law era. In 1974, President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. awarded 10,821 hectares of ancestral land on Bugsuk and Pandanan Islands to Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr., then CEO of SMC, as part of a land swap deal. In exchange for the islands, Cojuangco agreed to relinquish his haciendas in Negros Occidental for land reform implementation. The Molbog, Palaw’an, and Cagayanen communities were forcibly evicted to facilitate corporate development, specifically the establishment of a nursery for hybrid coconut trees.

Mariahangin was excluded from Cojuangco’s land acquisitions and became a refuge for many displaced from Bugsuk. In 1979, Cojuangco partnered with Jacques Branellec to establish Jewelmer Corp., which set up a pearl farm in the ancestral waters surrounding Bugsuk, thereby restricting public access to traditional navigational routes. This historical context situates the current struggle within a broader history of land dispossession.

Today, residents who remain on Mariahangin maintain a constant vigil along their shores to prevent unwelcome outsiders from setting foot on their land. Through the Sambilog-Balik Bugsuk Movement, they have accused Ortega of acting as an agent for SMC, believing that the company is orchestrating intimidation to clear the island for development.

Their protests have included a nine-day hunger strike outside the DAR office in Quezon City in December 2024. Civil society groups and the Catholic Church, including Palawan’s Bishop Socrates Mesiona, have expressed solidarity and condemned the “unjust displacement and harassment.” 

For the holdouts, Mariahangin remains their only home where they can always find food, even if meager, unlike the uncertain future offered by relocation.

“We are maintaining a 24/7 watch and will not leave this place because this is our ancestral home,” said Richard, a resident.