In a village in Palawan, those who fight for their rights end up accused in court.
Asserting their rights to ancestral lands, 282 Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents of Sitio Marihangin in Bugsuk, Palawan received court summons from the Palawan Regional Trial Court Branch 165. The summons stem from a complaint filed by nine individuals claiming ownership of the land.
“Right now, we remain anxious about what will happen to us in the coming days; almost all of us have received court summons,” said Baby Esnica Isa Moraco, a 31-year-old Molbog Indigenous resident of Sitio Marihangin, in Filipino.
Moraco told Bulatlat that they were served the documents on December 9 at around 10 a.m. Many residents were shocked, and some even fainted upon receiving the summons. Her entire family—including her four minor children—also received summons.
She has lived in Sitio Marihangin her whole life. “This is where I was born, and this is where I built my family.”
Residents also received a letter ordering them to vacate the island within 30 days. The letter was signed by Atty. Caesar Ortega, representative of the nine alleged landowners and former officer-in-charge executive director of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
The complaint has progressed into a civil case (accion reivindicatoria) with a Temporary Restraining Order and is scheduled for hearing on December 11, 2025. An accion reivindicatoria is a legal action to “recover ownership.”
Photo by Sambilog – Balik Bugsuk Movement
In a statement of residents and supporters released by Sambilog-Balik Bugsuk Movement, they said, “We will not leave Marihangin. This is where we grew up, where our ancestors are buried. This is where our generation planted our crops and fished.”
Bulatlat reported the series of legal cases faced by the residents since last year, including the case of community leader Eusebio Pelayo who was accused of “grave coercion” on December 4, 2024.
In May 2025, 10 indigenous and non-indigenous community leaders were also arrested over charges of “grave coercion” filed by Ortega. Molbog youth leader Angelica Nasiron also had to surrender to Puerto Princesa City police on July 28, 2025, for two separate counts of cyberlibel filed by Balabac Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative Chieftain Hamidon Monsarapa.
Read: Arrest of 10 indigenous peoples, community leaders in Palawan: unjust use of legal tactics
Read: Molbog youth leader charged with cyberlibel amid land dispute
The statement also called for the intervention of the local government of Palawan, Commission on Human Rights, Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the legislative branch, and even NCIP. Last year, community leaders of Sitio Marihangin went to Manila to conduct a nine-day hunger strike outside DAR’s main headquarters. However, the DAR Secretary did not face the striking residents.
In 2023, DAR revoked the Notice of Coverage (NOC) of the 10,821 hectares of land of the indigenous peoples in Bugsuk, Palawan under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER) which was issued in 2014. This decision allegedly came from DAR Secretary Conrado Estrela III.
Revoking the NOC, residents said, resulted in further harassment and intimidation at their community in Sitio Mariahangin. During the hunger strike in Manila, the remaining residents of Sitio Mariahangin reported attempts of outsiders to enter their community.
Read: Molbog IPs stage 9-day hunger strike, DAR secretary no show
Photo by Baby Esnica Isa Moraco
Meanwhile, the application for Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) of the Sitio Marihangin residents remained in limbo for two decades. Molbog residents submitted their application to NCIP in 2005. NCIP confirmed their application, together with four other applications for ancestral domains in Bugsuk, Palawan.
The application of Mariahangin residents remains stuck in the first out of eight phases to secure the CADT. The overall procedures are stated in the NCIP’s administrative order, covering 60 sections, and additional 50 sections for the other processes (e.g., accreditation of geodetic engineers).
What made the residents’ claims more challenging is the access to basic legal documents. Ten of their elders have already died waiting in vain.
Moreover, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) denied involvement in the Sitio Marihangin, despite the confirmation of 7,000 hectares of titled properties on Bugsuk Island, a separate island from Marihangin. But in the same year, residents exposed the SMC’s resettlement program offered to them which caused division in their community.
Read: Residents expose resettlement program offered by SMC amid denial of involvement
Over 200 residents built a barricade, taking turns guarding their island from violent entry of private goons for almost 400 days.
“We are called squatters and informal settlers by unknown people who never set foot in our own lands, with their names registered as owners in the land titles,” the residents said. “The recent case is only one of the newest forms of harassment to displace us from our own land. This is not only about our lands. This is about our lives, homes, and the dignity of our community.” (DAA)
The post Close to 300 Palawan residents accused of squatting on their ancestral lands appeared first on Bulatlat.
From Bulatlat via This RSS Feed.