Police arrested ten residents and indigenous Molbog in Sityo Marihangin in Barangay Bugsuk, Balabac, Palawan today, May 15. Former National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) director Atty. Caesar Ortega filed the case for grave coercion that led to the arrest.

According to the Sambilog-Balik Bugsuk Movement group, Ortega’s complaint stemmed from the incident on June 27, 2024, where residents allegedly blocked his personnel from landing on the shore of Sitio Marihangin. The case targeted the indigenous leader Eusebio Pelayo and other residents.

“The residents strongly denied the allegations asserting they only defended their rights to the ancestral land against the attempted eviction and demolition,” the group said.

NCIP and Ortega was set to serve the residents a certificate nullifying the indigenous people’s appeal to overturn the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) decision revoking the notices of coverage of the land in the sitio. Their eviction was also scheduled for that day.

Bricktree Properties, a San Miguel Corporation (SMC) subsidiary, is grabbing the land to pave the way for the construction of Bugsuk Island Resort, an ecotourism project covering more than 5,500 hectares.

SMC conspired with local agencies and officials to railroad its grand project at the expense of the indigenous people. DAR delisted 10,821 hectares of land in Barangay Bugsuk and Pandanan from the agrarian reform program to allow the construction of the resort.