Balabac Island



Balabac Island is the southernmost island of the Palawan province, and therefore the westernmost undisputed island in the Philippines, only about 50 km north from Sabah, Malaysia, across the Balabac Strait.

The island borders the West Philippine Sea, a portion of the South China Sea, and therefore borders the area of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea among the Philippines and particularly mainland China, but also including the Republic of China (Taiwan), Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei. Balabac is about 140 nautical miles from Panganiban Reef (Mischief Reef), which the mainland Chinese government occupied in 1995 and subsequently turned into one of its largest artificial islands within what the Philippines considers its 370 km exclusive economic zone. Balabac hosts Naval Station Narciso Del Rosario of the Philippine Navy and will host the United States Military under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

Balabac Military Runway
The BMR is a 3-kilometer military runway with a P305 million concrete pier—along with a beaching ramp at the Naval Station Narciso del Rosario. It is one EDCA's location along with Naval Base Camilo Osias in Santa Ana, Cagayan, Camp Melchor F. dela Cruz, Isabela and Cagayan North International Airport. Now in its final construction stage, it is a part of the 2017 Tatag ng Imprastraktura Para sa Kapayapaan and Seguridad program to service military and civilian aircraft.

Geography
Administratively, the island forms the main part of the municipality of Balabac and is divided into 14 barangays (the other six barangays of the municipality are on other nearby islands):

• Agutayan

• Catagupan

• Indalawan

• Malaking Ilog

• Melville

• Pasig

• Rabor

• Salang

• Poblacion I

• Poblacion II

• Poblacion III

• Poblacion IV

• Poblacion V

• Poblacion VI

Demography
The Molbogs, a Muslim ethnolinguistic group, are concentrated on the island. Their livelihood includes farming, fishing and barter trading with the nearby Mapun and Sabah market centres.

Fauna
Balabac Island is home to various endemic species. It is the home of birds like the grey imperial pigeon (Ducula pickeringii), Philippine cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropygia), blue-headed racket-tail (Prioniturus platenae), and the Palawan hornbill (Anthracoceros marchei). The Philippine mouse-deer, a subspecies of the greater mouse-deer (Tragulus napu) can only be found in this island.