Philippines, Palawan: Warning about Kidnapping Danger in the Tagbita Bay Area
A disturbing new threat to sailing boats cruising Palawan emerged in 2015. See later comments from cruisers cruising Palawan further down the report.
Published 8 years ago, updated 6 years ago
A sailboat that had been cruising Palawan for a couple of years, left their current position early Nov 2015 to go back to Palawan. They returned to a much-loved bay on the west side of Palawan (Tagbita Bay 8° 41′ N). This is a nice sheltered bay in the north/northwest swells. They were greeted by old friends who told them to leave immediately! As a result, they have returned to their previous position.
Their friends told them that Abu Sayaff (a militant Islamist group who have been involved in kidnapping of previous yachties and countless tourists in the Philippines and Eastern Borneo) have now set up a camp there and are recruiting young boys from the village, and paying local fisherman in surrounding areas for tips for the whereabouts of boats, specifically sailboats.
The boats with this knowledge need to remain anonymous for obvious reasons but want other boats that may sail west side of Palawan to take note of this convenient but dangerous anchorage and the surrounding waters.
Comment received December 23rd, 2015 from Brian Tennant
Hi and thanks for your report. I would like to just clarify a few points so the readers can have a clear picture.
My wife and I are on SV Stella and we are based in northwest Palawan. In early November we were on passage from Kudat to northwest Palawan and we stopped for one night at Tagbita Bay. We knew no one there, nor were there any other yachts present. A local man came close to us in his Bunka and I invited him on board for coffee. I asked him about crocodiles and he said yes, there were two and they had taken two young teenagers. I then asked him about Abu Sayyaf and he told me they had created a training camp nearby and were recruiting young boys aged 15 to 18 years old. He said they were paying 12000 pesos to their families and he had seen them out training.
We spent the night locked inside Stella and left first light. Our next stop was about 15 miles south of Quezon town, Malampakun Island. We had caught a fish that day and as our fridge still was not working we decided to visit one family on the island and share this lovely mackerel with them. We spoke with them about what the man from Tagbita Bay had told us, they confirmed every detail to be true and said they had been recruiting in their area too. I must point out that no one ever said anyone was giving information about yachts in the area.
Next stop was Quezon town where the marine police have a small house by the main wharf. I parked my dinghy there and chatted with them about what had been conveyed re. Tagbita Bay. They said they knew nothing of these things.
The next yacht we spoke to about this was several weeks later in our bay in NW Palawan. This is the yacht that passed on the info. above to noonsite, as they should have.
I must also point out that normally I would travel to Kudat at least 70 miles offshore and mostly don’t travel with lights at night. As we were close to shore (8 miles west of Balabac) on our return trip and there was a lot of traffic, I put on our stern light to appear as just a local boat. We were tracked and eventually approached by either a Philippine navy boat or coast guard. They flashed us with floodlights and left westwards when they realized we were just a sailboat. This happened again 4 hours later with another official boat, so the navy and coast guard are patrolling this area for our protection and of course trying to stop some smuggling. It was a reassuring thing for me.
We have had a steady flow of cruising yachts visiting us this year and some see the west coast as a much safer option to the east coast where a kidnapping happened last year. The west coast of Palawan is very beautiful, especially further north. The only time I have ever felt unsafe was our night in Tagbita Bay, so maybe just give that bay a miss for now. Please come visit us in NW Palawan!
Brian
SV Stella
Comment received February 17th, 2017 from Steindor Sigurgeirsson
Just to update information on the safety of cruising the Palawan area, Philippines.
Early February 2017 we took our motor yacht from Busuanga to Kudat. The route was down the west coast of Palawan after refueling in Coron. We stopped overnight at El Nido, and Uluguan Bay.
Note that the Coast Guard wants yachts to register at their offices when they stop in Coron and El Nido. Nothing problematic, they only want to see the boat registry and get a crew list. We spoke to the officers in Coron, El Nido and the Coast Guard station of Ulugan Bay when we were there, and they claimed that there was no problem with safety on the south part of Palawan anymore.
During our stop in Ulugan Bay, we rented tricycles to go to Puerto Princesa for immigration and port clearance, and it went very smoothly. We asked the Customs officer in Puerto Princesa if it would be safe to anchor in the bays southward, and he had a different opinion to that of the Coast Guard. He said that we should not take any unnecessary risks.
So we decided for the remainder of the trip to stay offshore -approx 15-20nm – and go directly to Kudat. We had no problems during the passage, just the occasional fishing boat passed by and we had a very nice cruise.
Off Pulau Balambangan there was a Malaysian patrol boat moored, obviously monitoring the channel.
We arrived on Saturday, so immigration and customs were closed, so we went to Kota Kinabalu for immigration where the port immigration office is open 7 days a week. Customs we cleared on Monday, as well very efficient and only took a few minutes, same as for the immigration.
So an excellent trip and hopefully we will get further assurance of Southern Palawan being a safe place to cruise in the very near future.
Steindor
M/Y Solon Islandus
Related to following destinations: Philippines
Related to the following Cruising Resources: Piracy & Security, Southeast Asia
As reported by a cruiser who has been in the Philippines since 2012:
“Here is my take on security cruising Philippines waters:
For over 30 years, the Sulu Sea area has been a risky place to cruise because terrorist groups like A.S. have been taking hostages for ransom. Most were Philippinos, but foreigners have been taken hostage also; either foreigners living or traveling on land but also sailors and mariners.
Lately, the situation deteriorated with the 3-yr abduction of a German cruising couple and in September 2015 the abduction of 4 cruisers from Samal Island boatyard and marina. Except for areas near the A.S base in the Sulu Sea, cruisers have not had any problems in the rest of the Philippines.
The Philippines new president, Roddy Duterte, is a very strong man who has successfully waged war against drug dealers in Davao for 20 years. When he came into power, just a few weeks ago, he warned terrorist groups that he will not accept the present situation regarding taking hostages. One of the 4 abducted hostages has been released and hopefully, the last one of these 4 will be released soon (alas the first 2 were executed by the terrorists a few months ago).
Caution is justified if you decide to cruise the Philippines and avoiding known areas under the influence of terrorists is a very good idea! It is amazing that these terrorist groups have been able to flourish their ransom business for so long … hopefully, this black period will soon come to an end!”
The cruising community needs a FACTUAL update on what has actually happened — and not happened — in Palawan. The original post was a responsible but overstated “warning” which has now fueled a raging rumour mill that has yachts changing long-standing plans to visit the Philippines.
It is fine to share that one has felt uncomfortable in a particular anchorage. Let’s try to keep to objective facts. I have telephoned the Philippines Coast Guard Station in Brooks Point, which has jurisdiction over both the west and east sides of southern Palawan including Balabac.
The Coast Guard tells me that there have been no incidents on the west coast, no kidnappings or close-to kidnappings other than s/y Catherine in April 2014. The Coast Guard stated that “Pawalan is safe.” Everywhere we sail in the world now, there will be some ISIS-type terrorist group trying to recruit locals, whether on the ground or via the Internet. Take Orlando — so no one sails to Florida now??
Hi and thanks for your report. I would like to just clarify a few points so the readers can have a clear picture.
My wife and I are on SV Stella and we are based in northwest Palawan. In early November we were on passage from Kudat to northwest Palawan and we stopped for one night at Tagbita Bay. We knew no one there, nor were there any other yachts present.
A local man came close to us in his Bunka and I invited him on board for coffee. I asked him about crocodiles and he said yes, there were two and they had taken two young teenagers. I then asked him about Abu Sayyaf and he told me they had created a training camp nearby and were recruiting young boys aged 15 to 18 years old. He said they were paying 12000 pesos to their families and he had seen them out training.
We spent the night locked inside Stella and left first light. Our next stop was about 15 miles south of Quezon town, Malampakun Island. We had caught a fish that day and as our fridge still was not working we decided to visit one family on the island and share this lovely mackerel with them.
We spoke with them about what the man from Tagbita Bay had told us, they confirmed every detail to be true and said they had been recruiting in their area too. I must point out that no one ever said anyone was giving information about yachts in the area.
Next stop was Quezon town where the marine police have a small house by the main wharf.
I parked my dinghy there and chatted with them about what had been conveyed re. Tagbita Bay. They said they knew nothing of these things. The next yacht we spoke to about this was several weeks later in our bay in NW Palawan. This is the yacht that passed on the info. above to noonsite, as they should have.
I must also point out that normally I would travel to Kudat at least 70 miles offshore and mostly don’t travel with lights at night. As we were close to shore (8 miles west of Balabac) on our return trip and there was a lot of traffic, I put on our stern light to appear as just a local boat. We were tracked and eventually approached by either a Philippine navy boat or coast guard.
They flashed us with floodlights and left westwards when they realized we were just a sailboat. This happened again 4 hours later with another official boat, so the navy and coast guard are patrolling this area for our protection and of course trying to stop some smuggling. It was a reassuring thing for me.
We have had a steady flow of cruising yachts visiting us this year and some see the west coast as a much safer option to the east coast where a kidnapping happened last year. The west coast of Palawan is very beautiful, especially further north. The only time I have ever felt unsafe was our night in Tagbita Bay, so maybe just give that bay a miss for now. Please come visit us in NW Palawan!
Brian
SV Stella