By DOMINIC GUTOMAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – A Molbog community leader is accused of “grave coercion” by a former executive of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
Eusebio Pelayo, 69, a community leader and a resident in Mariahangin, Bugsuk, Palawan, is summoned to court on December 4 due to a criminal complaint filed by Caesar M. Ortega, described as the “Authorized Representative of Land owners situated within Bowen Island” in the document. Ortega is NCIP’s former OIC executive director of the NCIP and Ancestral Domain Office’s (ADO) former director.
“The case they are filing against me, I have nothing to do with it. I am just supporting my indigenous spouse. I am behind them. I don’t know who filed the case against me. I’m just helping my family with [land dispute] issues we are facing in Mariahangin,” Pelayo said in Filipino.
Pelayo said that he did not harm outsiders of their communities, adding that he was firm in defending their ancestral lands in Mariahangin which may be the reason behind the case. His wife, Tarhata Nasiron-Pelayo, is a daughter of a tribe leader in Sitio Mariahangin.
Residents said that the complaint against Pelayo may be connected to the incident on June 27, when Ortega tried to enter their community to conduct a “dialogue” together with alleged members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the San Miguel Corporation (SMC). Residents did not allow them to enter because they were asking people to forfeit their lands in exchange for P75,000 to P100,000.
“I was just there at the shore, negotiating with my spouse. They were threatening to demolish our houses, and my spouse blocked them. We were trying to prevent any trouble,” Pelayo said.
In an earlier report of Bulatlat, the June 27 incident was also the same day when a staff from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) informed local residents of the impending demolition of their homes to make way for a large-scale eco-luxury tourism project spanning more than 5,500 hectares known as the Bugsuk Island Resort.
Read: In Palawan, residents say San Miguel Corporation implicated in harassment, surveillance
Pelayo’s nephew, Angelica Nasiron, said that the criminal complaint may also be connected to the recent efforts of the Molbog community to defend their ancestral lands. Residents of Mariahangin started taking turns from November 18 in guarding their small island village as the Philippine National Police (PNP) and alleged elements from San Miguel Corporation (SMC) tried to enter their community.
Residents said that the police did not coordinate with the residents, stressing that state forces are facilitating the entry of alleged SMC representatives.
Read: IP community prevents PNP, alleged SMC elements from entering ancestral land
Nasiron said that days after the visit of Ortega on June 27, there were 16 unidentified armed men who tried to enter the Mariahangin community. The armed men allegedly fired six shots, according to the report of Sambilog-Save Bugsuk Movement.
“The NCIP is supposedly the agency who should help us. We continue to live there despite paralyzing our livelihood. We were first deprived of our fishing grounds, and now, it’s the island. I hope they understand. I hope they feel some remorse,” Pelayo said.
Nasiron said that the engagement of Molbog community with the NCIP is distant. On December 8, 2023, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) facilitated a dialogue between the Molbog, NCIP, and the local government of Bugsuk. However, there was no representative from the NCIP who attended the event, Nasiron said.
The Molbog community submitted applications for Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) in 2005. However, there is still no decision on this.
Nasiron added, “It is the mandate of NCIP to help us, but what is happening, they are being instruments to repress us, the minority groups.”
Bulatlat initially asked the NCIP for a reaction on the harassment faced by Molbog community but it has not provided any reply.
Aside from the case against Pelayo, residents reportedly received demand letters in July 2023. According to documents obtained by Bulatlat, residents were asked to vacate their homes, with a warning that refusal to do so would mean “damages worth one million peso, aside from the charges to the lawyers and other expenses that will cost a minimum of one million peso.”
The demand letter also stated that the DAR issued an order on May 31, 2023, declaring the exemption of the whole island of Mariahangin from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Residents and the Save Bugsuk Movement have demanded that the government reinstate the coverage of over 10,821 hectare Bugsuk lands and distribute them to the rightful owners. (DAA)
