Balabac Island is the southernmost island of

Palawan 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 . The capital and largest c ...

province, and therefore the westernmost undisputed island in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, some north of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, across the

Balabac Strait The Balabac Strait (; ) is one of the straits that connects the South China Sea with the Sulu Sea. It separates Balabac Island (Palawan province), Philippines, from Balambangan and the Banggi Islands north of Borneo that are a part of Malaysi ...

. Administratively, the island forms the main part of the municipality of

Balabac Balabac Island is the southernmost island of Palawan province, and therefore the westernmost undisputed island in the Philippines, some north of Sabah, Malaysia, across the Balabac Strait. Administratively, the island forms the main part of th ...

and is divided into 14

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s (the other six barangays of the municipality are on other nearby islands):

Geography

Environment

Balabac is home to various

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

species, of which the

Philippine mouse-deer The Philippine mouse-deer (''Tragulus nigricans''), also known as the Balabac chevrotain or ''pilandok'' (in Filipino), is a small, nocturnal ruminant, which is endemic to Balabac and nearby smaller islands (Bugsuk and Ramos) southwest of Palaw ...

is an example. The island has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports significant populations of grey imperial-pigeons, Palawan scops-owls,

Palawan hornbill The Palawan hornbill (''Anthracoceros marchei'') is a large forest bird endemic to the Philippines. It is one of the 11 endemic hornbills in the country. It is only found in Palawan and nearby islands of Balabac, Busuanga, Calauit, Culion and ...

Philippine cockatoo The red-vented cockatoo (''Cacatua haematuropygia''), also known as the Philippine cockatoo and locally katala, abukay, agay, or kalangay, is a species of cockatoo. It is endemic to the Philippines, formerly found throughout the entire country, bu ...

blue-headed racket-tail The blue-headed racket-tail (''Prioniturus platenae''), also known as the Palawan racket-tail and locally as ''kinawihan'', is a parrot found in the western Philippines around Palawan. The species was formerly considered conspecific with the blue ...

Palawan tit The Palawan tit (''Pardaliparus amabilis'') is a species of bird in the tit family Paridae. It is endemic to Palawan and the smaller islands of Calauit and Balabac in the Philippines. Within its range it is found in lowland forest habitats, in ...

s, melodius and ashy-headed babblers, white-vented shamas,

Palawan blue-flycatcher The Palawan blue flycatcher (''Cyornis lemprieri'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Philippines found only on Palawan and its surrounding islands. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It i ...

yellow-throated leafbird The yellow-throated leafbird (''Chloropsis palawanensis'') is a species of bird in the family Chloropseidae. It is endemic to the Palawan in the Philippines. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forest. Along with the Philippine leafbi ...

s and

Palawan flowerpecker The Palawan flowerpecker (''Prionochilus plateni'') is a species of bird in the family Dicaeidae. It is endemic to the Philippines found only in the Palawan island group. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forest. Description and tax ...

Demography

The Molbogs, a Muslim ethnolinguistic group, are concentrated on the island. Their livelihood includes farming, fishing and

barter In trade, barter (derived from ''bareter'') is a system of exchange (economics), exchange in which participants in a financial transaction, transaction directly exchange good (economics), goods or service (economics), services for other goods ...

trading with the nearby

Mapun Mapun, officially the Municipality of Mapun (), is a municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 30,038 people. It was formerly known as Cagayan de Sulu until 1984, then as Cagay ...

and

market centres.

Historical and strategic context

The island borders the

West Philippine Sea West Philippine Sea (; or ''Karagatang Kanlurang Pilipinas''; abbreviated as WPS) is the designation by the government of the Philippines to the parts of the South China Sea that are included in the country's exclusive economic zone. The term i ...

, a portion of the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

, and therefore borders the area of the

territorial disputes in the South China Sea Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan (Republic of China/ROC), and Vietnam have conflicting island and maritime claims in the South China Sea. The disputes involve the islands, reefs, banks, ...

among the Philippines and particularly mainland

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, but also including the Republic of China (

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, and

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

. Balabac is about 140

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude at t ...

s from

Mischief Reef Mischief Reef, also known as Meiji Reef (), Vành Khăn Reef (), or Panganiban Reef (), is a low tide elevation (LTE) reef/atoll surrounding a large lagoon in the southeastern region of Dangerous Ground (South China Sea), Dangerous Ground in the ...

, termed ''Panganiban Reef'' by the Philippines, which the mainland Chinese government occupied in 1995 and subsequently turned into one of its largest artificial islands within what the Philippines considers its

exclusive economic zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

. Balabac hosts

Naval Station Narciso Del Rosario A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations ...

of the

Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) () is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an estimated strength of 24,500 active service personnel, including the 10,300-strong Philippine Marine Corps. It operates 91 combat ...

and will host the

United States Military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

under the

Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) is an agreement between the United States and the Philippines intended to bolster the American–Philippine alliance. The agreement allows the United States to rotate troops into the Philippine ...

(EDCA). The Balabac Military Runway (BMR) is a 3 km military

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

with a P305 million

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

— along with a beaching ramp — at the Naval Station Narciso del Rosario. It is one of five locations covered by the expanded EDCA and is a part of the 2017 Tatag ng Imprastraktura Para sa Kapayapaan and Seguridad program to service military and civilian aircraft. Cabo Melville Lighthouse 1892

References

The Molbog

External links

Balabac Island
at

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{{Authority control Islands of Palawan Important Bird Areas of the Philippines