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The recent elections have seen great uproars left and right, up and down the country. A major chunk of the partial and unofficial results were released by COMELEC just mere hours after the voting officially closed at 7:00 PM last Monday. The whole world stood to watch as Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the late dictator, led the presidential race from topping the surveys to securing the position with approximately 30 million votes in his favor. Even the current president, Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte, won as president in 2016 with only 16 million votes.
If you listened closely enough on the night of May 9, you can hear the sound of the young wailing, historians shivering, and most of all, Martial Law victims dreading to live through another Marcos presidency.
Among the victims of the Marcoses are the Tagbanua people in Calauit Island, Palawan. If you’ve watched the famous Imelda Marcos documentary “The Kingmaker”, you will remember that a big percentage of the movie revolves around the story of how this remote indigenous island became Imelda’s little Africa in the Philippines.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Here’s a rundown for those who’ve not seen the documentary. In 1976, over a hundred wild animals were shipped in from Africa to create the dream safari of the Marcoses. To make this dream a reality, they had to find space large enough to host these non-native animals. In comes Calauit Island, a 3,700 hectare island off the coast of Busuanga, Palawan. Imelda personally handpicked the island out of impulse. The only problem in their way now was the 254 Tagbanua families residing in Calauit.
Their answer was simple. Force these families out of their home.
The Tagbanuas were evicted to Halsey Island, a former leper colony, where they were not provided with any of the rehousing or rehabilitation efforts promised by the government. Meanwhile, their ancestral land gets invaded by giraffes, impala, wild boar, gazelles, and zebras for the ultimatum of Imelda’s wild safari dreams.
I personally visited Calauit Safari Park with my family last January 2020, a hair’s breadth before COVID (then nCoV) became a thing. I had already heard about Calauit briefly in college at that point. It surprised me when my mother announced we were visiting the park as part of our tour package. I couldn’t believe I’d actually see, in the flesh, one of the manifestations of Imelda’s obscene wealth and extravagance.
Photo from Jenika Nero
Stepping on their soil was a weird experience. I was excited to see the animals (Giraffes in the Philippines! What a treat!), but at the same time, I was uncertain if we should be supporting the safari park in the first place. Then again, they are no longer affiliated with the Marcoses. In fact, they left the locals to keep the place running all by themselves.
I spoke briefly with one of the guides there as we continued the tour around the island. I remember him saying that the park prospered when it was still under the Marcoses. He explained that, since the safari was directly connected to the national government back then, their budget came in large sums. Now they have to make ends meet with whatever budget they receive from their local government in Busuanga.
I couldn’t verify at that time if what he said was true. But after watching Kingmaker this year, I now know that Calauit did not flourish under the dictatorial family. It was only great in the beginning when spirits were high for the project. It wasn’t a sanctuary; it was a personal zoo. It was a playground for Bongbong to hunt wild boar. It was just another lavish collection for Imelda to flaunt. Meanwhile, the animals have to adapt to the non-native environment; the zookeepers have to fend for themselves without a manual on how to care for the creatures; and the Tagbanuas have to give up their land to fulfill selfish desires.
Photo from Jenika Nero
One of my brothers was particularly hyped for the safari park visit. He adores giraffes and was psyched to know we could feed them by hand at Calauit. He didn’t know the story behind the safari yet at that time. Now, he shudders when he sees our family photos at the park.
Photo from Ginalyn Nero
“I felt happy at that time to see my favorite animal, but now I feel bad knowing that [Calauit] is not their home and that they are suffering a lot due to inbreeding and untreated diseases,” he said. “It is inhumane for the Marcos family to replace the people of the island with exotic animals just for the sake of their entertainment and recreation.”
The Calauit Safari Park was a no-win situation for everyone involved. There continues to be no veterinarian on the island to check on the animals and treat their diseases. In the documentary, we see the giraffes suffering from different skin diseases like screwworm and scabs. Inbreeding is also rampant resulting in disorders like stunted growth and calf abnormalities.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
The Tagbanuas reclaimed the island in 2010, but they still feel like it isn’t theirs anymore. The wild animals feed on their crops before they could even harvest them, leaving no food for the villagers to eat. The fences they put up were easily destroyed by the zebras. There have also been cases when some of the animals were found dead with a spear in their side. Each is on their own when everyone is forced to fight for survival.
If it weren’t for my college teacher and "The Kingmaker” documentary, I would not have known the Calauit Safari story at all. It is not found in textbooks. It is not brought up in any Araling Panlipunan lessons. It’s seemingly erased from history, much like many other atrocities under the Marcos dictatorship. And because of this deliberate erasure, the Marcoses are now one step closer to once again holding the reins of the country if Bongbong is declared President. And sadly, he even topped the presidential results in Busuanga, Palawan where Calauit is situated.
Photo from ABS-CBN News
We can only hope that, perhaps, if Bongbong sits in the Malacañang, he extends the much needed help Calauit needs to properly care for the non-native animals brought in by his family. If he truly wishes for Calauit to be beautiful again, he should employ veterinarians, zoologists, and other animal experts to nurture the island as an actual habitat for the animals. Or better yet, knowing the reality of the animals and the Tagbanuas at Calauit, Bongbong ships back the wild creatures to their home in Africa so the villagers can also fully reclaim their home after 46 years.
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