As the dark days of martial law are commemorated, Palawan remains mired in crisis because of the Marcos Jr. administration’s failure to address worsening economic conditions. Palaweños continue to endure deepening poverty, contradicting the administration’s astonishing claims that the situation is improving.
The economic crisis has further burdened Palaweños, largely because of the monopoly held by capitalist oil companies.
Available data show that diesel prices in the province exceeded P140 per liter in April, prompting a 20.8 percent fare increase. Inflation on the island rose by 5.5 percent, driven in part by a 13.6 percent surge in rice prices.
Because of the oil crisis, brownouts have become as persistent as grass brought by the Palawan Electric Cooperative (Paleco), severely hurting business and tourism in the island province. Yet Busuanga Island Electric Cooperative Inc. (Bisleco) continues to charge ₱24.92 per kWh, the highest power rate in the country.
As blackouts persist in the Palawan island, billionaire tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. is heavily engaged in the Malampaya deep-water gas-to-power project and has consolidated full control over its operation, through his infrastructure firm, Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc., and its subsidiary Prime Energy Resources Development B.V. to exploit the Malampaya natural gas field for private business rather than for the benefit of the local populace.
I also want to point out the very low wages in Palawan, that is ₱455 minimum wage falls short of the family living wage in MIMAROPA, which stood at ₱1,304 in June.
As President Marcos Jr. boasts his ’20-peso rice’, it does not reach the remote areas and Indigenous communities in Palawan. It is concentrated only in Puerto Princesa and Narra.
Palawan has not been spared from corruption in flood control projects, yet the Marcos Jr. administration has shown little interest in conducting a serious investigation. No one has been held accountable for alleged anomalies involving “ghost” and overpriced projects, including a cited flood control project in Barangay San Pedro, Puerto Princesa.
I want to emphasize that the Marcos Jr. policy has been consenting of openly selling Palawan’s natural resources to foreign mining corporations, such as Ipilan Nickel, Coral Bay Nickel, and Rio Tuba Nickel, through the CREATE Law and by extending land leases up to 99 years. This has resulted in severe land reconcentration and the grabbing of ancestral domains from the Molbog and Cagayanen Indigenous peoples on Bugsuk Island in favor of San Miguel Corp. and the Cojuangco family.
And geopolitically, I want to point out that the Marcos Jr. administration has been using the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue to throw the Palaweños in the service of US interests and plans against China.
While the Marcos Jr. administration repeatedly hypes China’s military presence in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), it allows US warships and aircraft carriers to operate in the area and expand Enhance Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites in southern Palawan and Ulugan Bay, putting residents of the Palawan islands at risk.
If war breaks out between the two imperialist powers, Palawan could be used as a launching pad, with Palaweños turned into cannon fodder.
Given what is happening in Palawan, Palaweños must be properly informed, especially as government agencies have been negligent, if not irresponsible, in providing people with accurate information on future government dealings.
Most local media practitioners in Palawan do good work, but they often face poor treatment from agencies when seeking information for news reports. This lack of cooperation should not be tolerated, as it leaves people misinformed or uninformed and worsens the situation.
Local broadcasters rarely discuss the effects of EDCA in Puerto Princesa City and in the island municipality of Balabac. This is largely because the relevant government agencies have seldom initiated open discussions about EDCA in Palawan, leaving many Palaweños inadequately informed or misinformed.
During martial law, US military bases—Subic Naval Base in Olongapo City, Zambales, and Clark Air Base in Angeles City, Pampanga—became the focus of intense national media debate until they were removed from the Philippines in 1992, after the Senate rejected the treaty extending their stay.
Because the well informed public realized what were the ill effects when the US military bases existed in the Philippines, they had made a firm stand.
Meanwhile, there is shenanigan in the shipment of 130 cases of dynamite and other explosive components onboard a passenger and cargo vessel that sailed from Manila to Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
It is unclear how Commodore Jane Gesulgon, chief of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Palawan, failed to detect the dangerous shipment, which included 12,500 kilos of ammonium nitrate and 1,500 connectors when it arrived at the Port of Puerto Princesa on Sept. 13.
Gesulgon was uncertain in her statement as she did not mention any names of shippers or souls of consignee of the contraband in her media release. There was even no proper identification of the vessel as if she had apprehensions to mention a certain name and address.
It was clear that the shipment had been misdeclared and that the PCG had its duty to further investigate the lapses of their fellow Coast Guard that allowed the dangerous cargo to be loaded onto the RoRo ship at the port of origin.
In my experience as a reporter, shipments of tons of ammonium nitrate and other explosive materials used for mining exploration occur because of strong political connections among consignees, wealthy shippers, and high-ranking police officers who serve as escorts. When lapses occur, no one speaks about the shipment; it is treated merely as a misdeclaration to be settled later, especially if no one is harmed and no property is damaged. In the end, money changes hands.
