Beyond the tranquil lands and pristine beaches of Palawan, a local environmental protection group bravely combs through its thick rainforests to catch persistent illegal loggers. After a little prayer and a short meal, the para-enforcers follow the sound of a whirring chainsaw, crawling through tall grass they already know by heart to avoid armed men who have killed some of their members before. They brave every expedition knowing full well that a bleak fate awaits them the moment they make a mistske at any minute. 

Filipino environmental defenders’ grim reality was depicted in “Delikado,” a 2022 documentary directed by Karl Malakunas. “Delikado” follows the story of Ruben “Kap” Arzaga, Tata Balladares, Bobby Chan, and former El Nido Mayor Nieves Rosento, in their collaborative effort to shield Palawan from the pawns of permanent destruction under a Duterte regime that favored the elite over the environment. 

But six years after its filming, the safety and security of environmental defenders, both in Palawan and across the country, are still compromised. 

As seen in the documentary, the Palawan NGO Network Inc. (PNNI) taps para-enforcers who work on the ground, protecting Palawan’s remaining land and marine resources. Kap, a para-enforcer for the PNNI, was one of the environmental defenders killed under the previous administration. 

There have been no improvements since, with the Human Rights Watch in 2023 still dubbing the Philippines the worst country in Asia for environmental defenders for the 11th consecutive year since 2013. Contrary to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s prided prioritization of climate change adaptation during 2024’s State of the Nation Address,  there have been 23 known cases of enforced disappearances of environmental defenders under his administration. 

This culture of impunity mirrors former President Rodrigo Duterte’s tactics, when lawyer Chan and former mayor Rosento were strategically targeted by the state in an attempt to weaken the collective movement in Palawan. In 2019, Duterte falsely accused Rosento of drug trafficking, while in 2021, then-Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez declared Chan as persona non grata in the province.

The situation has, in some ways, worsened. Today, the indigenous communities as a whole are on the brink of permanent displacement from their ancestral lands. This May, land defenders of Sitio Marihangin in Brgy. Bugsuk, also in Palawan, have faced several arrests on trumped-up charges as their land is sought for an ecotourism development project by Bricktree Properties, a subsidiary company of San Miguel Corporation.

In addition to illegal logging, Palawan lands are being stripped due to nickel mining, particularly in the ancestral homes of the Palaw’an indigenous people. 

Even Palawan’s coasts are not exempt from corporate greed. Coupled with the effects of climate change, the ruling of the Supreme Court that allows commercial fishing over municipal waters further aggravates damage to marine life. Palawan board members expressed concern over the ruling, warning of the possible depletion of marine resources. Permitting commercial fishing within the 15-kilometer jurisdiction over municipal waters also increases competition for small-scale fisherfolk in the province.

The state, as shown on the local level, exploits not only Palawan’s natural resources but even its people to forward a neoliberal agenda disguised as development by tolerating and even backing the destructive projects of corporations. Despite the blatant threats of the Duterte and Marcos Jr. regimes to silence progressive individuals, the local communities surmount impending danger to halt the state’s pursuit of self-interest. 

In 2025, PNNI continues battling for the Palawan forests towards a larger purpose of safeguarding the province, which is dubbed as the Philippines’s last frontier. In Chan’s words, they are “working within the law.” Because when government support is intangible, communities resort to taking matters into their own hands.

Although the government undermines and shuns local figures, a local’s experiences and knowledge need not entail a certain profession to be recognized, says island sustainability researcher Ilan Kelman. Supporting locally developed initiatives–like the PNNI forest rangers–is necessary to claim justice for the disproportionate consequences that the climate crisis brings to these communities, Kelman adds.

Following her mayorship, Rosento has served as a board member of the Palawan Sangguniang Panlungsod, before failing to clinch a second term. Chan, together with the para-enforcers of PNNI, continues to expose the lack of government initiative to address the persistence of illegal logging in the province. 

“Delikado“ reminds us of the dangerous state of the country until today for environmental defenders, who tirelessly shield the country’s resources despite meager support and continued repression. Even though the land-grabbing corporations continue to instill fear in communities, the documentary shows that collective action, as with the PNNI and its para-enforcers, can break the chain of fear in the ensuing campaign toward attaining climate justice – both for the people and the environment. ●

First published in the July 5, 2025 print issue of the Collegian.