Presentation short abstract

Paradise island Balabac's intensified tourism industry has had fragmented consequences for its stakeholders. This study uses stakeholder analysis to narrate their lived experiences and humanizes the political ecology of their involvement in the industry.

Presentation long abstract

Infrastructure development in the paradisiacal island of Balabac, Palawan has accelerated in response to the island's growing tourism industry, supported by local government efforts and private investments towards inclusive and green growth. However, these developments have created tensions between the island's economic expansion and socioecological burdens, the brunt of which are borne by its eclectic communities made up of migrant settlers and indigenous ethnic groups. These tensions culminated in human rights abuses against these communities, particularly in Sitio Mariahangin where the San Miguel Corporation's ecotourism developments reportedly led to violent land dispossession. This case study utilizes stakeholder analysis, in conjunction with phenomenological and ethnographic data gathering methods, to identify tourism stakeholders on the island, to determine the local government’s future directions for the industry, and to narrate the impacts and implications of the industry on the lived experiences of these stakeholders. The case study demonstrates that the island’s tourism stakeholders have fragmented levels of power and control over economic benefits and ecological agency, with the highest belonging to the State and private investors. This also reveals the uneven geographies of Balabac; where economic benefits are concentrated in the municipal center, financially excluding Molbog communities outside of it, reducing their agency over their ancestral land and waters. With the state moving towards enhancing the industry, it practices inclusive growth through hiring the “marginalized” as short-term laborers. This band-aid inclusivity exacerbates the uneven social consequences of Balabac’s tourism that is resisted by Molbog communities actively calling for a community-based ecotourism program.