SUMMARY

“Hindi kami aalis dito. Sa amin ito,” declared Maribel Belono, a resident of Pag-asa Island in the municipality of Kalayaan, Palawan province. (We’re not leaving this area. This is ours.)

Belono, 49, first set foot in the island in 2002. She just wanted to visit the area. But little did she know that she would find herself living here for over two decades now. While the presence of large Chinese ships has been a regular sighting in this part of the West Philippine Sea, it never crossed her mind to leave and live somewhere else.

This is also the case for teacher Kathleen Acosta, 27, who has been deployed by the education department to teach at Pag-asa in 2023. It was not a difficult decision for her to make because, according to her, “it’s a mission.”

“Paninindigan po siya na…

Source:https://www.rappler.com/philippines/residents-assert-philippine-sovereignty-pag-asa-island/