The Sambilog-Balik Bugsuk Movement strongly condemned the court’s temporary restraining order (TRO) issued on December 17 against its members. For 20 days, they are prohibited from blocking the entry into the sitio led by land grabbers led by former director of the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) Cesar Ortega.

Residents said the court’s swift issuance of the TRO is alarming. It was released four days after their hearing at the Regional Trial Court in Brooke’s Point, Palawan on December 11. The case is clearly connected to the San Miguel Corporation (SMC)’s plan to seize their ancestral land. For years, SMC subsidiary Bricktree Properties has been attempting to seize the land to build a 25,000-hectare luxury tourism infrastructure for the elite.

Residents fear that SMC’s armed personnel might exploit the court’s upcoming Christmas recess to once again launch armed attacks, demolitions, and forced evictions.

Around 300 indigenous Molbog, Pala’wan, Cagayanen, and other residents currently live in Sityo Marihangin.

Sityo Marihangin is an ancestral land that has been claimed since the Marcos dictatorship. The people’s application for a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) has remained pending since 2005. In 2014, agrarian reform coverage over their 10,821-hectare land was withdrawn, violating their ancestral domain under the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act, the constitution, and international humanitarian law.

The Sambilog-Balik Bugsuk Movement calls on the NCIP to expedite the processing of their CADT application, on the Commission on Human Rights to launch an independent investigation into the court’s irregularities and human rights violations in the sitio, and on the Marcos administration to intervene directly and stop SMC from evicting them. The group also urges the public, human rights organizations, church groups, and environmental advocates to immediately spread their call and hold authorities accountable.