By Jerry Esplanada

First time to this islet of Malitam Dos, sitting at the mouth of the Calumpang River in Batangas, will be surprised to find its 250 plus residents speaking a strange tongue. Instead of Tagalog, the locals converse in Sinama, the language of the Badjaos, the boat people of Southern Mindanao. Why? Because they are Badjaos. During the past 15 years, hundreds of them have made the difficult voyage from Zamboanga City and the island –province of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi to coastal areas in Luzon and the Visayas. Some Badjaos have moved to as far as Cagayan Valley, the Cordillera Administrative region and the local provinces and parts of Central Mindanao and the Caraga region. The government classifies them as internal refugees – people displaced by, among other things, militarization and harassment by pirates and other criminal groups.

First the Pirates

Suhayle Ache, a fisherman and leader of the small Badjao community here, says his family fled Lamitan, Basilan, in the late 1970’s because of the deteriorating peace and order situation there. “First, the pirates. Then, groups of Muslim secessionist rebels and criminals elements like the Ilaga gang and bandits from neighboring provinces were making our lives miserable. Killings, lootings, burning and strafing of houses he recalls. We had no choice but to leave our place birth.”

No Longer Live in Boats

Ache, who does not know his age but thinks he is in his 60’s, says eleven other Badjao families joined his family in their trip to Cebu, the first leg of a journey that would end in Luzon. “We left our boats behind, took an inter-island vessel in Zamboanga City and settled temporarily in Daan Bantayan in Cebu. From there, we moved to Masbate, then Sorsogon, southern Quezon and finally here to Batangas City,” he said. Here, Badjaos live in thatched huts, made of scrap wood and plastic sheets, not in moored boats as they did back home. They make a living by fishing off nearby Verde and Maricaban islands and buying and selling pearls necklaces and shells.

Pollution

The city government earlier declared the islet Malitam Dos off limits because of its proximity to the Shell refinery in Tabangao. “Due to environmental reasons, we had relocated the squatter families who used to live in Malitam,” says Mila Espanola, city social welfare officer.

But after the squatters were gone, the homeless Badjao refugees from the south came, and three was no stopping them. They had no other place to settle down. “It’s not advisable to live there,” says Espanola, “The Badjaos, especially the children, may be exposed to air pollution. And the place gets flooded during the typhoon season.” Portions of the islet are slowly being eroded by river currents and the waters of Batangas Bay.

Flexible lifestyle

But the Badjaos do not consider that a problem. Ache says they "can always move elsewhere”. Ache, who doubles as a medicine man, describes the Batanguenos here as “very accommodating and hospitable”.  Ache’s neighbor, boat maker Sali Lamani, agrees. “At first we expected some hostility and human rights violations. But our fears did not materialize. I think we’re lucky to have settled here in Batangas,” says Lamani.

Other internal refugees have been tagged as rebels by host communities because they came from insurgency-devastated areas. “We have shown our hosts that, like them, we are also peace-loving and that Badjaos are trustworthy, contrary to what some people say about Muslims,” says Ache son, Sani.

But times have changed, says Ache. “We have managed to buy some battery-operated household appliances and maintain a bangka-bangka (small boat). Sometimes we run out of food, but we don’t mind. “We’re happy because we’re living in peace.”