provinceorstate:palawan

China takes Philippine atoll | Headlines, News, The Philippine Star | philstar.com
▻http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/03/02/1558682/china-takes-philippine-atoll

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The Chinese have taken over another traditional Filipino fishing ground near Palawan where they have stationed up to five ships to keep local fishermen at bay, sources said.

Now effectively under Chinese control is Quirino or Jackson Atoll, which has been a rich source of catch for a long time for fishermen from Palawan, Southern Luzon, Western Visayas and even Manila.

Gray and white Chinese vessels have not left the atoll, which Filipino fishermen also call Jackson Five, because of the existence of five lagoons in the area.

The Chinese are claiming almost the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea. Manila is contesting Beijing’s claim before an international arbitral court based in The Hague.

Filipino fishermen lamented the Chinese vessels would not allow them to come near or linger in the Quirino Atoll.

The area is between the Philippine-occupied Lawak Island and the Chinese-occupied Panganiban (Mischief) Reef.

China’s Missile Move Sparks Questions on South China Sea Plans - gCaptain
▻https://gcaptain.com/chinas-missile-move-sparks-questions-on-south-china-sea-plans

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China sparked new questions about its intentions in the South China Sea after it deployed surface-to- air missiles to a contested island, a move that came just months after President Xi Jinping promised not to militarize the disputed atolls.

Satellite images showed two batteries of eight HQ-9 surface-to-air missile launchers and a radar system were deployed on Woody Islandsometime after Feb. 3, Fox News reported. That’s just days after the U.S. rebuffed China’s efforts to control one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes by sending a warship into the area.

The positioning of the missiles casts further doubt on Xi’s pledge at a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington in late September not to militarize the islands and suggests China is prepared to escalate tensions in order defend its claims, particularly with a ruling expected this year on an arbitration case brought by the Philippines to an international tribunal.

#Spratleys récif de #Subi

#Philippines islanders unite to resist ’land grab’ palm oil companies - The Ecologist
▻http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2986785/philippines_islanders_unite_to_resist_land_grab_palm_oil_companies.htm

Farmers on Palawan are being tricked into giving land away to palm oil companies with local government support, writes Rod Harbinson. Under the palm oil company ’leases’ the farmers lose all rights to their land, never receive any money, and are saddled with 25 years of debt. Those who resist the land grabs are now in fear for their lives following the murder of a prominent campaigner.

#terres #industrie_palmiste

Philippines : Lumads blast APEC, rap plan to convert 1 million hectares into palm oil plantations
▻http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/25467-philippines-lumads-blast-apec-rap-plan-to-convert-1-million-hect

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Farmers and indigenous people (IP) nationwide protested in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Wednesday to denounce the plan to convert one million hectares of land into palm oil plantations.

The protest, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said, is a prelude to bigger actions as the Aquino government prepares to host the 15th Leaders’ Summit of the Asia Pacific Cooperation (APEC) on November 18 and 19.

More than 100 Lumad farmers from the Manilakbayan contingent trooped to the DENR to oppose the planned conversion.

In Mindanao alone, more than one million hectares of land are being eyed as potential palm oil production areas.

Bohol and Palawan are also targeted for palm oil plantations expansion.

The activity will be highlighted by the people’s critique of the government’s Philippine Roadmap on the Palm Oil Industry for 2016-2023 and testimonies of farmers, agricultural workers, and Lumad affected by land grabbing and inhuman working and living conditions in oil palm plantations.

#terres c’est marrant, je croyais que les Phillipins avaient peu de terres agricoles et qu’ils fallait qu’ils se nourrissent de riz doré pour compenser le manque de vitamines et oligoéléments présents dans les fruits et légumes...

#Palawan: Stop blaming indigenous peoples’ farming practices for deforestation- look at oil palm plantations and mining
▻http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/24842-palawan-stop-blaming-indigenous-peoples-farming-practices-for-de

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Recent years have seen an exponential increase in land deals across the Philippines with the conversion of large expanses of land with crops mainly intended for export while traditional upland farming implemented through swidden (‘slash-and-burn’) technology (kaingin) is demonized and antagonized through restrictive legislation. The latter, however, fosters local self-sufficiency and plays a fundamental role in the livelihood and worldviews of indigenous societies.

Palawan, known as the “Philippine last Frontier”, in spite of its unique recognition as a UNESCO Man & Biosphere Reserve, has not been spared from massive investments in extractive resources and industrial agriculture, especially oil palm and rubber development. And yet, indigenous people and upland dwellers continue to be blamed for massive deforestation and ecological disaster.Not surprisingly, the recent front cover of a well known Philippine Newspaper (the Daily Inquirer, May 9 issue) holds a headline post with a powerful image that easily conflates all upland peoples as criminal agriculturalists (▻http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/684378/summer-not-all-beach-in-palawan-it-is-the-season-to-burn-forests) “Images are powerful and can be damaging” says Wolfram Dressler a Research Fellow from the University of Melbourne (Australia) who has carried out extensive anthropological research in Palawan. ”They can direct blame without nuance and context. The masses (and government) absorb such images to reinforce centuries old narratives demonizing kaingin—a term that many farmers avoid because of its pejorative nature” adds Dressler.

The Inquirer’s article was triggered by an aerial survey carried out by the so called Center for Sustainability (CS), a nonprofit organization allegedly working for sustainable development in Palawan. The group spotted from the air key locations, previously covered by forest, and which have now been subject to clearing due to various external forces (mining, oil palm plantations and shifting agriculture (locally known as kaingin, or more appropriately ‘uma’). According to the group, in addition to clearing by ‘poor farmers’, forest burning in the south has been linked to the proliferation of palm oil and rubber plantations, and the main target of ‘slash-and-burn’ activities is the clearing of primary forests for development.

Ironically, for carrying out its photo survey CS conservationists have barrowed the private plane of multimillionaire Jose Alvarez, the present Governor of Palawan, a well-known supporter of large-scale agro-industry, especially rubber which accelerates deforestation and deprives more traditional indigenous communities of their resource-base.

#peuples_autochtones #Philippines #agriculture #agro-industrie #forêt #déforestation #huile_de_palme #caoutchouc

The #Philippines: stop the palm oil rush in Palawan
▻http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/24176-the-philippines-stop-the-palm-oil-rush-in-palawan

The proposal to convert further 8 million hectares of Philippine soil into oil palm plantations made headlines across the country and shed a harsh light on how Philippine authorities imagine their country’s development.

Palm oil companies are planning to convert 20,000 hectares of land in the Philippines’ Palawan Man & Biosphere Reserve. 6,000 hectares have already been cleared, endangering biodiversity, water resources, topsoil quality and the livelihood of farmers and indigenous peoples, while exacerbating rural poverty. If oil palm expansion is allowed to continue, the environmental and ecological sustainability of the province and local food security will be severely compromised.

While Agumil Philippines, Inc. – the largest palm oil company in Palawan – freely exports palm oil to Malaysian buyers, local farmers have nothing to feed their families or anything to take to the local market. “Agumil does not even allow us to intercrop cassava on our land, which they have converted into oil palm plantations,” says Jerry Azucena of the newly established Coalition against Land Grabbing (CALG). “They have destroyed our lives, and sooner or later they will have to compensate us,” he adds.

#huile_de_palme #terres #faim #destruction