PUERTO PRINCESA CITY―The island province of Palawan, dubbed as the country's "last ecological frontier", had been consistently embroiled with environmental issues.

At the center of the controversies were the southern towns of Narra and Brooke's Point, in which both of its local chief executives were suspended from the office in the last 2019 term.

The environmental management, protection, and preservation is closely linked to local governance, which exercises discretion over exploitation of natural resources and development under their direct dominion.

As the campaign season for local polls began late March, the candidates' track records were placed under public scrutiny as a litmus test of political will and capability to make decisions and stand by it.