THITU ISLAND: When Mary Joy Suelo set off for Thitu Island in 2024, it took five days at sea on a Philippine navy ship to get there — a journey that made her realize how very far she was from her family and the life she knew.
She arrived with a group of other teachers to work at the island’s only school. As soon as they disembarked, they saw it was surrounded by Chinese military vessels.
“At night, their lights would flicker. It almost looked like you were in a park. We even counted them. Before, they could reach up to around 50 ships. Now, there are fewer,” she said.
“We really felt sadness because we were far from our families and had to adjust to a completely new environment … We really felt fear. But we embraced it — not just for our work, but for the children here.”
Thitu Island is the largest Philippine-occupied feature in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, and the only one with a civilian population. It is located some 480 km northwest of mainland Palawan province and surrounded by shallow coral ranges.
