Geography | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 12°18′4″N119°53′56″E / 12.30111°N 119.89889°E Coordinates: 12°18′4″N119°53′56″E / 12.30111°N 119.89889°E |
Archipelago | Calamian Group of Islands |
Adjacent bodies of water | |
Administration | |
Region | Mimaropa |
Province | Palawan |
Municipality | Busuanga |
Calauit Island is an island of the Calamian Archipelago, just off the north-western coast of Busuanga Island. It is part of the municipality of Busuanga in the province of Palawan, Philippines. The entire island was declared as a wildlife sanctuary and game preserve in 1977, [1] now is a tourist attraction known as Calauit Safari Park.
The wild animals were imported from Africa in the 1970s. The imported animals include 20 giraffes, dozens of zebra and antelopes. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos forced the locals to move to Halsey Island and ordered to clear the bamboo forests to make the place similar to the savannahs of Kenya. An estimated 254 families, mostly from the indigenous Tagbanwa tribes, were evicted and relocated to the former leper colony of Halsey Island. [2] [3]
Today, the African animals continue to roam around the island and the number of animals is increasing. [4] The animals have been inbreeding for four generations and may die off from the lack of diversity in their gene pool. [2]
In the 1970s, several families, including those from the indigenous Tagbanwa peoples, were evicted from Calauit Island to make way for the wild animals imported from Africa. [2] A United Nations report on human and indigenous rights noted how Tagbanwa families suffered relocation under stress and duress after the Marcos decree turned their ancestral lands into a sanctuary for African animals. [5]
The families were resettled on barren land, where the families often went hungry. [6] For decades, the families struggled to return to what the Tagbanwa's consider their ancestral home. [5] Tagbanwa families would build homes, which would be demolished by Philippine soldiers. Soldiers also barricaded water sources and built fences to keep out the indigenous community. [6] In 2001, members of the Tagbanwa community were jailed for trying to resettle on the island. [7]
After Marcos was deposed in a peaceful revolution, the Balik Calauit Movement was organized to help families reclaim their ancestral land. The movement also helps the indigenous communities demand their human rights. [6]
Palawan, officially the Province of Palawan, is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of 14,649.73 km2 (5,656.29 sq mi). The capital city is Puerto Princesa. Palawan is known as the Philippines' Last Frontier and as the Philippines' Best Island.
Busuanga, officially the Municipality of Busuanga, is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 25,617 people.
Culion, officially the Municipality of Culion, is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 23,213 people.
Indigenous Philippine folk religions are the distinct native religions of various ethnic groups in the Philippines, where most follow belief systems in line with animism. Generally, these indigenous folk religions are referred to as Anito or Anitism or the more modern and less ethnocentric Dayawism. Around 0.2% of the population of the Philippines were affiliated with the so-called "tribal religions", according to the 2010 national census.
A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals.
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad, the autonym officially adopted by the delegates of the Lumad Mindanao Peoples Federation (LMPF) founding assembly on 26 June 1986 at the Guadalupe Formation Center, Balindog, Kidapawan, Cotabato, Philippines. Usage of the term was accepted in Philippine jurisprudence when President Corazon Aquino signed into law Republic Act 6734, where the word was used in Art. XIII sec. 8(2) to distinguish Lumad ethnic communities from the Bangsamoro.
Palawan, the largest province in the Philippines, is home to several indigenous ethnolinguistic groups namely, the Kagayanen, Tagbanwa, Palawano, Taaw't Bato, Molbog, and Batak tribes. They live in remote villages in the mountains and coastal areas.
The Calamian Islands or the Calamianes is a group of islands in the province of Palawan, Philippines. It includes:
The Philippine crocodile, also known as the Mindoro crocodile, the Philippine freshwater crocodile, the bukarot in Ilocano, and more generally as a buwaya in most Filipino lowland cultures, is one of two species of crocodiles found in the Philippines; the other is the larger saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). The Philippine crocodile, the species endemic only to the country, went from data deficient to critically endangered in 2008 from exploitation and unsustainable fishing methods, such as dynamite fishing. Conservation methods are being taken by the Dutch/Filipino Mabuwaya foundation, the Crocodile Conservation Society and the Zoological Institute of HerpaWorld in Mindoro island. It is strictly prohibited to kill a crocodile in the country, and it is punishable by law.
The Tagbanwa people are one of the oldest ethnic groups in the Philippines, and can be mainly found in the central and northern Palawan. Research has shown that the Tagbanwa are possible descendants of the Tabon Man, thus making them one of the original inhabitants of the Philippines. They are a brown-skinned, slim, and straight-haired ethnic group.
The Palawan stink badger, pantot or tuldo in the Batak language, is a carnivoran of the western Philippines named for its resemblance to badgers, its powerful smell, and the largest island to which it is native, Palawan. Like all stink badgers, the Palawan stink badger was once thought to share a more recent common ancestor with badgers than with skunks. Recent genetic evidence, however, has led to their re-classification as one of the Mephitidae, the skunk family of mammals. It is the size of a large skunk or small badger, and uses its badger-like body to dig by night for invertebrates in open areas near patches of brush. While it lacks the whitish dorsal patches typical of its closest relatives, predators and hunters generally avoid the powerful noxious chemicals it can spray from the specialized anal glands characteristic of mephitids.
Souls in Filipino cultures abound and differ per ethnic group in the Philippines. The concept of souls include both the souls of the living and the souls or ghosts of the dead. The concepts of souls in the Philippines is a notable traditional understanding that traces its origin from the sacred indigenous Philippine folk religions.
The Palawan water monitor, Varanus palawanensis, is a quite large species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to the Philippines.
The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) is the agency of the national government of the Philippines that is responsible for protecting the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Philippines. The commission is composed of seven commissioners. It is attached to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The Indigenous People's Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA), officially designated as Republic Act No. 8371, is a Philippine law that recognizes and promotes the rights of indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples in the Philippines.
Calauit Safari Park is a wildlife sanctuary in the Philippines which was originally created in 1976 as a game reserve featuring large African mammals, translocated there under the orders of the President Ferdinand Marcos during his 21-year rule of the country.
The Sengwer people are an indigenous community who primarily live in the Embobut forest in the western highlands of Kenya and in scattered pockets across Trans Nzoia, West Pokot and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties. The Sengwer are sometimes portrayed as a component of the Marakwet people but are a distinct ethnic grouping.
Squatting in Angola occurs when displaced peoples occupy informal settlements in coastal cities such as the capital Luanda. The Government of Angola has been criticized by human rights groups for forcibly evicting squatters and not resettling them.
Squatting in Kenya is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. During colonial occupation, indigenous peoples working on farms owned by white settlers were known as "squatters". As of 1945, there were over 200,000 of these licensed squatters in the Highlands and more than half were Kikuyu. The Mau Mau rebellion began amongst squatters in the late 1940s and after independence in the early 1960s, peasants started squatting land in rural areas.