The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)-Palawan and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) strongly criticized the Marcos Jr regime for its claims of progress in the province of Palawan in its recent state of the nation address (SONA). The revolutionary groups also condemned US imperialism’s and it’s local lackeys’ plunder of Palawan’s nickel and other resources and making use of Palawan as a launch pad for aggressive and provocative operations in the South China Sea.
The NDFP-Palawan accused the regime 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 resulting 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.
Palawan province holds one of the richest deposits of nickel needed for the production of batteries for electric vehicles, semiconductors and other advanced technologies that imperialist countries are fiercely jostling over. Most mining on the island is focused on nickel extraction. The Palaweño masses have long opposed destructive mining in Palawan, regarded as the Philippines’ “last ecological frontier.”
NDFP-Palawan described the regime's reported achievements as “hollow and a bane to the people”, citing diesel prices of more than ₱140 per liter, rising rice prices and a provincial minimum wage of ₱455 as signs that many Palaweños continue to struggle with the cost of living. Inflation on the island accelerated by 5.5%, highlighted by a 13.6% surge in rice prices. It also condemned the province’s failed power service, where Palawan Electric Cooperative (Paleco) lines reached only 59% of the area, while Busuanga Island Electric Cooperative Inc. (Bisleco) still charges the highest in the country at ₱24.92/kWh. As blackouts persist, Prime Energy continues to exploit the Malampaya natural gas field for private business rather than for the benefit of the local population.
The NDFP-Palawan also condemned the US-Marcos regime of using the West Philippine Sea issue to advance U.S. interests and plans against China. “While the regime constantly hype China’s military presence in the WPS, it allows US warships and aircraft carriers to navigate the area and expand EDCA sites in southern Palawan and Ulugan Bay,” NDF-Palawan stated. It warned that if war breaks out between the two imperialist countries, Palawan will be used as the launching pad and the Palaweños will become “cannon fodder.”
Earlier, the CPP urged resistance against US ‘imperialist war’ and plunder in Philippines' 'last frontier' amidst the US' announcement in July that it will rehabilitate Buliluyan Port, a civilian port in Bataraza, Palawan, to serve as an additional naval base on the island. The CPP said that though the rehabilitation is being framed as an upgrade for the Philippine Coast Guard, the US has long used the port and nearby coastlines for amphibious exercises under the Balikatan and Kamandag joint military drills.
“The people must resist the US’ use of Palawan as a launch pad for its aggressive and provocative operations in the South China Sea and reject heavy presence of its troops on the island,” said Marco Valbuena, chief information officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in a statement last August 1. Buliluyan Port adds to the US bases and facilities on the island, including two EDCA sites—Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa, and the 300-hectare island of Balabac.
The provincial local government last year passed an ordinance imposing a 50-year moratorium on new mining operations on the island. The NDF-Palawan welcomed the move, calling the ordinance “a major blow to imperialism and its plunder of the nation’s wealth, as well as to the US-Marcos Jr regime that bows and submits to the class interests of the imperialists and foreign mining corporations.”