31 years of plunder and destruction is Enough! Scrap the 1995 Philippine Mining Act! End Imperialist Plunder!

On this 31st anniversary of the Philippine Mining Act (PMA) of 1995, Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas stands firm in its call to scrap this neoliberal and anti-people law. For more than three decades, the PMA has enabled the unhampered plunder of our country’s mineral resources, opening vast portions of our lands to foreign mining corporations and facilitating the systematic land grab of Indigenous Peoples’ (IP) ancestral lands. Instead of bringing genuine development to Indigenous Peoples (IP) and local communities, it has bled our lands dry and left behind poisoned rivers and displaced communities. Far from delivering progress, it has resulted in displacement, environmental destruction, militarization, deepening poverty, and widespread human rights violations.

Photos during the action staged at Senate in Pasay City in line with the PMA1995's 31st year.

The devastating impacts of the PMA of 1995 are felt today more than ever.

In Dupax del Norte, communities continue to resist Woggle Corporation, whose exploration activities persist despite a temporary suspension issued by authorities. Residents have raised concerns that drilling and exploration threaten irrigation systems, rice fields, and watersheds that sustain farmers and gardeners. The suspension did not revoke the permit, leaving communities in uncertainty while corporate interests remain poised to resume extraction.

In the Cordillera, communities continue to defend their lands. In Itogon and Mankayan, FPIC violations persist in the renewal of Itogon-Suyoc Resources Inc. and Crescent Mining projects. In Kalinga, residents demand the cancellation of Makilala Mining Company, Inc.’s (MMCI) permit and Certification Precondition, citing that “no consensus was actually reached by the community” and downstream communities were never consulted despite risks of pollution and siltation. In Abra, Tingguian communities oppose Yamang Mineral Corporation (YMC), which seeks to operate in Sallapadan, Lacub, Malibcong, and Licuan-Baay, citing coercive FPIC practices and threats to ancestral lands, watersheds, and livelihoods.

In Palawan, Palaw’an and Tagbanua communities resist mining in critical watersheds and forested ancestral lands, reporting persistent FPIC violations and the disregard of legitimate community resistance. In Mindoro, Mangyan communities defend forests and rivers from nickel mining projects, exposing manipulated consultations and inadequate consent processes. In Mindanao, Lumad communities denounce militarization, harassment of leaders, and coerced consent tied to mining operations.

Mining operations are often accompanied by armed presence, further undermining the principle of free and voluntary decision-making and criminalizing Indigenous resistance.

Across the Philippines, mining applications, exploration permits, or production agreements now cover more than 20% of the country’s land area, with over half overlapping ancestral lands. The promised benefits of development remain hollow, while communities are displaced and left with degraded ecosystems, deepened poverty, and loss of the right to self-determination. It prioritizes profit over people, extraction over self-determination, and export over local development.

This is not merely a regulatory failure. It is a structural policy of imperialist plunder. Imperialist powers, such as the US, aggressively wage and instigate wars across the globe to impose their economic and political hegemony. It has positioned the Philippines as a resource colony. Our mineral wealth is exported, our ecosystems are sacrificed, and our people bear the costs.

The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 has entrenched this exploitative framework. It guarantees incentives and security for corporations while weakening Indigenous governance systems and reducing FPIC to a procedural obstacle to be bypassed or manipulated.

Katribu calls on all sectors to unite in demanding the junking of the 1995 Philippine Mining Act. We must advance genuine alternatives that prioritize the welfare of the people and environmental protection over corporate profit, such as the People’s Mining Bill. We demand a mining policy anchored on national industrialization, genuine agrarian reform, and full respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights to ancestral lands and self-determination.

Our mineral resources must serve the Filipino people, including Indigenous Peoples, not foreign corporations, not imperialist powers!

Reference:

Beverly Longid

National Convener

Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas