Sicogon land feud boils over as armed businessman is arrested

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor and Jennifer P. Rendon

A businessman from Bacolod City and four other men were arrested on Friday, June 26, capping a tense overnight standoff at a high-end resort on Sicogon Island in Carles, Iloilo, where authorities say at least 11 employees were detained the previous afternoon.

Police identified the principal suspect as Alfredo Luis “Dave” Sarrosa, 60, a central figure in the long-running dispute over the development of Sicogon Island.

Sarrosa is connected to the Sicogon Development Corporation (SIDECO), the family-controlled company that owns much of the island and holds the joint venture behind its tourism estate.

Police Major Karl Jerome Tingala, officer-in-charge of the Carles Municipal Police Station, said the incident was initially reported as a hostage-taking, but that investigators are now pursuing a case of serious illegal detention against Sarrosa and his four companions.

Tingala clarified that the 11 employees of the Sicogon Island Tourism Estate Corporation (SITEC) were not formally taken hostage. “It appeared that they felt threatened over what Mr. Dave did,” he said.

The employees were rescued at 10 p.m. on Thursday, police said.

Authorities said they received a report at around 3:50 p.m. on Thursday from ACCRALAW, the legal counsel of Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), warning of armed men firing at the Huni resort.

According to Tingala, the message stated: “There is an urgent situation at Sicogon Island only now. There are armed men at Huni opening fire. We have alerted the chief of police of Carles and we are requesting your assistance.”

Tingala said he also received a call at about the same time from the security manager of SITEC, the joint venture between ALI and SIDECO.

Sarrosa allegedly fired at least four times at the Huni Resort and Jetty Port in Barangay San Fernando, with initial reports indicating that he intended to seize the resort’s operations from SITEC.

At 5 p.m., Tingala and 10 other Carles municipal police officers, three personnel from the PNP Maritime Group, and eight members of the 2nd Iloilo Provincial Mobile Force Company set out for the island.

The team arrived at around 7:30 p.m. and began negotiating for the group’s surrender at 8 p.m., but the talks failed and Sarrosa retreated to a hideout.

Officers initially exercised maximum tolerance and continued monitoring the area, while requesting additional backup from the Iloilo Police Provincial Office.

At 7 a.m. on Friday, police arrested Sarrosa after he emerged from his hideout without a firearm. He offered resistance but was quickly subdued, and four other people were taken into custody. No shots were exchanged.

Tingala said only Sarrosa was found carrying a firearm. Authorities have yet to determine whether his companions were armed, noting that they were carrying sling bags.

The four arrested companions were not Sarrosa’s bodyguards but island residents who had accompanied him, Tingala said.

Sarrosa told police that he had allowed some of the 12 men who came with him to go home during the evening.

After the arrests, the group was taken to mainland Estancia, where police said an inquest case would be filed.

Before his arrest, a video circulated online showing a heavily armed Sarrosa at the resort accusing ALI of “land grabbing” amid the decades-long ownership dispute.

“This is the result of 16 years of a failed joint venture. What did you get? You got one person who is willing to die here. Do you think we don’t know how to use firearms? You are stpd. We grew up handling guns. We grew up learning how to defend ourselves. Come and get me, a**h*les,” he said.

In the same video, Sarrosa named his siblings, said island residents had gone hungry because of the situation in Sicogon, and claimed that 16 years of the joint venture had produced nothing for the community except the death of their father.

He also challenged ALI to take back the property if it could, saying that he and others were prepared to use firearms.

Police said they are preparing charges of serious illegal detention, trespassing, alarm and scandal, destruction of property, and illegal possession and discharge of firearms under Republic Act 10591, the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, against Sarrosa.

The specific charges against the four other suspects are still being determined, Tingala said, adding that the investigation remains ongoing and that additional charges may follow.

A Scene of the Crime Operatives team was still processing the site, and Tingala said the tension on the island had been defused.

The standoff is the latest flare-up in a years-long conflict over the 810-hectare tourism development on Sicogon Island, located in northern Iloilo.

SIDECO, owned by the Sarrosa and Marañon families of Negros Occidental, was the island’s original landholding entity, and Sarrosa holds a stake in the company through Coral Holdings Inc.

In 2010, SIDECO and ALI signed a joint venture agreement that created SITEC, with redevelopment gaining momentum after Super Typhoon Yolanda devastated the island in 2013.

The venture called for the construction of the Huni Hotel, the 50-villa Balay Kogon resort, and an airport, alongside housing, livelihood programs, agricultural land distribution, and resettlement for residents organized under the Federation of Sicogon Island Farmers and Fisherfolk Association (FESIFFA).

Residents have long accused the developers of seizing agrarian reform land, displacing families, and stripping them of traditional livelihoods.

Amid the continuing dispute, the island’s airport ceased operations in late 2025, and both the Huni Hotel and Balay Kogon permanently closed on June 15, 2026.

Sarrosa has repeatedly criticized the joint venture as a “major failure,” citing broken promises, a lack of jobs for residents, and the slow pace of development, and he has called for a revised, more “people-oriented” agreement.

The Thursday standoff came days after ALI transferred 63 hectares of land — 30 hectares for residential use and 33 hectares for agricultural use — and released a PHP 29 million housing fund to FESIFFA members.

Sarrosa’s group allegedly sought to take over the shuttered facilities to demand the revocation of the development and the return of 80 hectares of land to the community.

The episode underscores how unresolved questions over land titles, jobs, and housing continue to shadow one of Western Visayas’ flagship tourism projects, even as Ayala Land moves to settle agrarian claims with affected families.