You are correct Fred, the areas are somewhat desolate but for me the issue is that the matter cannot be debated, anyone speaks out against the big corporate and government bodes they die or dissapear.
There is a Malaysian Palm oil company doing the rounds at the moment looking to establish a processing plant in the largely unpopulated, mangrove covered south of the Island asking local wealhy people and the ex pat brigade if they would like to invest in 100 hectares a piece and the company then plant, mature and harvest the trees. It is a long tem investment over about 20 years and has a good and growing return. The problem for me is that mangrove is not just swamp it is vital to the eco chain and bio diversity so getting rid of them degrades part of the reason I like living in Palawan when we can. i guess they will have there way, they have already done terrible damage in Malaysia.
I agree with mostly all of that..
This is still the Philippines and it is STILL inevitable that local cowboys will still operate illegally by paying off their Barangay captain buddies for the blind eye treatment.. These cowboys I agree must be shut down.
Im not at all sure that they represent "big corporate and government bodies" especially in Palawan these days and highly doubt that the DENR would issue environmental or exploration permits etc to such "bodies" ..
I would appreciate it if anyone here could name the project in case so that I can investigate further to keep this thread real.
In regards the campaigners.. Most of them do not deal in real facts and disregard the efforts by the DENR and legally operating local and foreign mining companies now operating in the Philippines..
They (the campaigners) also provide no useful alternative employment for those that these companies employ..The otherwise extremely poor indigenous population. They also offer NO alternatives to replace the education, school buildings,medical care and many more local benefits that these companies must provide.
These campaigners have had much success lately.. Due to their campaigns and online petitions an ill advised president Aquino has come to power and no new mining permits will be issued by the DENR by virtue of this new order in Palawan..
Many locals have tried to oppose this decision but have been completely ignored.

Filipinos have more than a Trillion $$`s of hard cash sitting beneath their feet.. Enough money to start competing with the likes of Singapore if they could get their act together.. (Like Australia,China and India have been doing for decades)
The archipelago is located in an ideal location and sits next to the worlds second largest economy that will buy all the R.P can produce after this economic depression eventually lifts.. I reckon another 7 years.
IMO this will never come to pass as the country is run by so called do gooders and of course the Catholic church who`s interests lie in keeping the general massa in extreme poverty..
That said..If the R.P ever did fully capitalise on its natural resources and decided it wanted to compete with the first world.I for one probably could no longer afford to live here..
Ouch!!