Three Chinese ships passing in the distance, but clearly discernible to the locals on Pagasa island, are a constant reminder to the Filipinos of how vulnerable they are to foreign intrusion. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LGU, KALAYAAN ISLAND GROUP
Whenever teachers lead their pupils in singing "Lupang Hinirang" in class at the tiny Pagasa Elementary School in the municipality of Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in Palawan, the moment truly stirs them: because their unique location pits them up close, each day, with foreign ships that could end their freedom any time.
Like most of the 500 or so Filipinos who call the KIG home, the two teachers and 30 students have learned to live with the prospect of seeing the strangers just a few hundred meters away--on days they feel like it, the Chinese intruders create the impression they are preparing to move in on the tiny clutch of islands that the Philippines still holds on to in the West Philippine Sea.
Eugenio Bito-onon, local chief executive of the KIG, said there are times when Chinese ships stop just 4 to 5 kilometers west of Pagasa and then maneuver as if they are moving toward the island. It's obviously a scare tactic that the Filipinos on Pagasa island have learned to live with, but it has an unsettling effect just the same.
“Our constituents there [have taken] some photographs of these incidents that have happened many times already, every time the Chinese are coming [to] and leaving Ayungin, one of our reefs in the KIG," Bito-onon said in a phone interview.
But, he added, the local populace is used to this situation, as the Chinese boats have been behaving as such for the longest time---giving the tiny islands a "close shave."
Fewer than 500 civilians, excluding military personnel deployed on the KIG, live in Pagasa, which is the center of KIG’s local government unit. The island has a dilapidated runway and was converted into a naval station of the Philippine Navy.
An elementary classroom is being used by less than 30 pupils with two teachers, one employed by the LGU and the other one by the Department of Education (DepEd). “Our first classroom was donated by retired Marine Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban. Our second classroom from another donor . . . will soon rise beside the first one.” Bito-onon declined to name the second donor "for the meantime."
The mayor plans to employ one more teacher.
He said the local community is used to the sight of the Chinese boats. And, if any one of these boats suddenly decides to land, "as visitors" the Chinese will be met by the locals, he said.
“If they want to visit us, we will welcome them as visitors. We are not supposed to be fighting with them, actually," he said.
The mayor recalled one close brush with Chinese boats last May 15, when they were sailing around the vicinity of Ayungin reef on the MV Queen Seagull, enroute to Balabac A Chinese Navy ship harassed them.
The mayor was asleep in the boat, and his companions recounted to him what happened that time. "We were tailed for about an hour until we passed by Ayungin where a big unidentified boat was anchored. At close range one cannot see the vessel number. Their spot light was glaring, and it was hard to see. From Ayungin we headed towards Balabac, and then made a turn there. They didn't do anything to us, except tail us," said Bito-onon.
One boat was about 30-40 meters away from the Filipino group. It kept nipping at their heels, as if creating the impression that it would never let go.
Two weeks ago, Bito-onon returned to Pagasa and was even more shocked and disgusted: several Chinese naval, maritime, and fishing vessels were illegal gathering giant clams, black corals and other precious marine resources in Ayungin.
He denounced the illegal activities of the Chinese and urged the national government to do something before the reef is completely destroyed. Bito-onon revealed plans for the Filipinos to put up a marine farm in the area.
A Marine detachment is house in an abandoned LST in the area, but the soldiers cannot do anything to apprehend or drive out the intruders.
And so, the locals live each day on guard, in this tiny clutch of islands that are like pearls strewn on the Philippine sea--close to nature's bounty. Their town stands for "Freedom" and their island for "Hope." Two precious, abstract commodities that they know could be snatched any time, if they ever forget how close they are to intruders.....
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