Revoke the Exploration Permit of North Luzon Mineral Resources Corporation! Stand with Kasibu!

KATRIBU stands in full solidarity with the Kasibu Inter-tribal Response towards Ecological Development (KIRED) as they trooped to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Mines and Geosciences Bureau this July 14 to demand the cancellation of the exploration permit of North Luzon Mineral Resources Corporation (NLMRC) and to defend their ancestral lands from yet another destructive mining project.

The struggle of the people of Kasibu is not an isolated one. Indigenous Peoples across Nueva Vizcaya have resisted for decades against large-scale, foreign-owned mining that has brought only environmental destruction, loss of livelihood, militarization, and human rights violations. From the successful resistance against Royal Co Mining Corporation in 2008, to the recent people's barricade that compelled the suspension of Woggle Corporation's exploration activities in Dupax del Norte, the people have repeatedly proven that organized communities can halt destructive mining projects.

Today, Kasibu faces the same threat from NLMRC. This comes even as the people continue to suffer the impacts of the OceanaGold Didipio mine, which has long been linked to water depletion, contamination, and the destruction of agricultural livelihoods. Instead of addressing these longstanding grievances, the Marcos Jr. administration continues to welcome foreign mining investments and aggressively expands extractive projects at the expense of Indigenous Peoples' rights and the environment.

As we approach President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s fifth State of the Nation Address, the people of Kasibu expose the true state of the nation for Indigenous Peoples. Instead of protecting ancestral lands and upholding the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), the Marcos Jr. administration has aggressively opened Indigenous territories to large-scale mining and so-called renewable energy projects while welcoming foreign investments that intensify resource plunder. Through policies that fast-track extractive projects—including recent agreements under the US-led Pax Silica Initiative—the government continues to prioritize corporate and foreign interests over the rights, livelihoods, and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples. Communities asserting their right to defend their ancestral lands are met not with justice, but with militarization, harassment, and other human rights violations.

KATRIBU calls on the DENR and the MGB to immediately cancel the exploration permit of North Luzon Mineral Resources Corporation. We likewise call on Congress to investigate the continuing expansion of destructive mining in Indigenous territories and uphold the rights guaranteed under international human rights standards. #

Reference:

Funa-ay Claver

Secretary-General, KATRIBU Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas

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