Dreams for the village called ‘Hope’

By: Frances Mangosing - 10 years ago

The children of Pag-asa Island. PHOTO from Operation Freedomland

MANILA, Philippines—Somewhere in the middle of the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), there sits a village called Pag-asa with about 100 Filipinos greatly in need, helpless in the crosshairs of aggressive neighbors.

Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon Jr. of Kalayaan dreams that Pag-asa one day becomes a marine fishery and tourism zone. He hopes a “marina” be also constructed. The construction of “relevant port facilities” will translate to progress. A harbor will be able to shelter fishing and patrol boats.

In the vision of Bito-onon, Pag-asa will become the “central hub,” as it oversees the islands claimed by the Philippines (Pag-asa, Patag, Lawak, Likas and Parola) and two reefs (Ayungin and Rizal). But until now, everything remains a dream.

Kalayaan is a fifth class municipality composed of islands known as Kalayaan Island Group or KIG (Spratlys). It covers about 65,000 square miles of islands, shoals and reef. The seat of government is the village called Pag-asa.

Pag-asa Island is the largest of the islands of the KIG occupied by the Philippines that is 480 kilometers off southwestern Palawan. It is the second largest island in the whole of Spratlys. Neighboring countries have overlapping claims of the island, but China claims nearly the entire West Philippine Sea.

Two neighboring countries built tourist resorts on their claimed islands, but the Philippines in Pag-asa has a humble community with a town hall, water and power utilities, health center, elementary school, police station and a combat airstrip.

“The airstrip is a military one and it’s tedious– for private planes it might take a while to get down,” Bito-onon told INQUIRER.net.

But the airstrip needs repair, and if fixed, will be “the most convenient” link to the city. Travel by boat is usually at least 30 hours from mainland Palawan and is discouraged during rainy season.

The island is in need of so many things, medicines for one. When Bito-onon spoke to INQUIRER.net early this May, he said that his people were in need of medications.

“Many are getting flu. We need dextrose, vitamins and the likes,” he said.

There is a small clinic in Pag-asa which has also limited features and for more urgent cases, patients are usually fetched by a small military plane and brought to the city.

A Facebook page called “It’s no fun in Pag-asa” was launched last month led by cultural activist Carlos Celdran to help Filipinos improve the sustainability of their lives.

Celdran’s group, which claims to be”unapologetically idealistic,” sought the support of Bito-onon to be able to help the people in the desolate island. Those who wish to help may check out It’s no Fun in Pag-asa Facebook page and their online donation drive page.