Statement on World Environment Day

June 5, 2025

Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas joins the peoples of the world in the celebration of World Environment Day.

Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines have long been staunch defenders of the environment. We honor all Indigenous heroes who have dedicated their lives to protecting our lands and resources.

Across the country, Indigenous lands are threatened by destructive projects, particularly mining. From Luzon to Mindanao, Indigenous Peoples continue to resist these operations: the Dumagats against the Dinapigue Mining in Isabela; the Igorots against Itogon-Suyoc Resources, Yamang Mineral, and Makilala Mining in the Cordillera; the Mangyans against Agusan Petroleum and INTEX Mining in Mindoro; the Tagbanuas and Palaw’ans against Citinickel, Ipilan, and Riotuba Nickel Mining in Southern Palawan; and the B’laans against the Tampakan Mining in South Cotabato. These operations have not only caused massive environmental destruction but also widespread loss of livelihoods among Indigenous communities.

In the Cordillera alone, over 100 mining applications have been filed, covering around 34% of the region’s total land area. Meanwhile, in Palawan, 11 mining companies are actively operating, most of them concentrated in the southern part of the island.

Katribu underscores that these mining operations persist under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995. In light of the Supreme Court’s decision voiding Occidental Mindoro’s 25-year ban on mining, we join progressive groups in urging its immediate reversal.

Local ordinances such as these aim to protect the rights and welfare of Indigenous communities and the environment. If these ordinances are rendered invalid due to the Mining Act, it only underscores the urgent need to repeal this unjust law and replace it with the People’s Mining Bill. This legislative measure genuinely upholds the rights of Indigenous Peoples and safeguards their ancestral lands.

The ruling also highlights that a law like the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 may be legal, but not just. Mining projects continue to violate the Indigenous Peoples’ right to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), a right enshrined under the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997, yet it remains repeatedly violated.

This World Environment Day, Katribu reiterates its call to scrap the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and enact pro-environment and pro-people laws such as the People’s Mining Bill. We urge the Marcos Jr. administration to put an end to its greenwashing agenda, which only upholds neoliberal policies that enable foreign companies to extract and exploit our resources. Katribu will continue to resist destructive projects and steadfastly defend our ancestral domains.

Reference:

Beverly Longid

KATRIBU National Convener