Opposition to Badjao relocation plan intensifies

STA. CRUZ, Zambales — Residents of this sleepy town at the northernmost tip of Zambales are up in arms against the plan of the municipal government and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to resettle over 1,000 Badjao families in an idyllic coastal village this year without the benefit of public consultations.

Despite an indignation rally and petition letters to municipal officials, concerned government agencies, and the New Zealand Embassy, which extended a grant to initially fund the project, the residents felt that their actions have fallen on deaf ears.

In fact, they said the town’s mayor, Luisito Marty, refused to accept the petition letter containing hundreds of signatures opposed to the resettlement.

Neither did Marty respond to letters from existing owners or claimants of the property, they added.

It was also alleged that a barangay chairman even resorted to intimidating people from joining protest rallies and other mass actions.

But they said this only served to embolden and unite the townsfolk further.

A series of informal public meetings to create awareness of the plan was held by residents in place of the public consultations which they claimed the municipal government and the DSWD never conducted with the affected residents, and landowners and claimants.

They claimed that even the municipal council was kept in the dark as its resolution, which the municipal government and the DSWD used to justify the resettlement project with other government agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Public Works and Highways and NZAID, was in fact a resettlement plan intended for local squatter communities.

They claimed that some councilors have confirmed this.

Aside from the no-prior consultation issue, the residents also raised several concerns.

First is the environmental degradation of the area. They cited a study conducted by Haribon showing that only 30 percent of the town’s entire coral reef remains intact and is considered to be in fragile condition.

This, according to them, is precisely where the municipal government and the DSWD intend to relocate the Badjao families.

They said local fisherfolk are already suffering from low fish catch due to the destruction of the coral reef by years of unabated dynamite fishing and cyanide poisoning.

Bringing in 1,000 Badjao families will surely hasten the total destruction of the reef altogether as sewage, sanitation and garbage disposal will be a major problem, they said.

Meantime, teachers and health and social workers, barely coping with the current shortage in classrooms, medical supplies and facilities, are puzzled why the municipal government would want to abruptly increase the town’s population.

The residents added that there are hardly any industrial or commercial activities in the town that can sustain this sudden influx.

The residents also raised potential problems in socio-cultural harmony, citing experiences in Batangas and Bicol where Badjao resettlement areas have been put up.

They added that the land intended as the relocation site has had an approved free patent issued by the DENR as early as July 2004 to a family who has possessed and occupied the property for over 30 years, meaning the area is actually private property.

Zambales second district Rep. Antonio Diaz vowed to take the lead in opposing the relocation plan.

Sulu first district Rep. Hussin Amin, for his part, promised to compel the DSWD to resettle the Badjaos in Mindanao where they could be cared for.

Diaz and Amin attended a public hearing organized last Thursday by a loose coalition of townsfolk and a non-government organization, Shelter for Community, Progress and Empowerment.