Photo and video: The police and military at the barricade in Kasibu against NLMRC mining.
Inquirer.net reports: “Environmental and human rights groups condemned the arrest of three Indigenous Peoples leaders of Kasibu Intertribal Response for Ecological Development (Kired) during negotiations between police and residents at the barricade of a mining community in Nueva Vizcaya.”
That article explains: “The three leaders were among those securing the barricade set up by residents against further exploration by mining firm North Luzon Mineral Resources Corporation (NLMRC) in Barangay Paquet in Kasibu town.”
It also notes: “The Center for Environmental Concerns, Human Rights Watch and Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (PNE) issued separate statements demanding the immediate dropping of charges against them. …The Kalikasan PNE said attacks and harassment on local residents have been attacked and harassed since they put up the barricade in May to push back against large-scale mining.”
Katribu, the National Alliance of Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations in the Philippines, also issued a statement that says: “We strongly condemn the arrest of KIRED members Leijin Dugay, Donny Dugay, and June Fiataccag at the Pacquet barricade in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, on August 19, 2026.”
Katribu further states: “The government’s police forces must serve and protect the people—not corporations, mining interests, or profit. The arrest of community and environmental defenders cannot be the government’s response to legitimate concerns over destructive mining and the protection of Indigenous lands and livelihoods.”
And LiCAS.news reports: “Philippine Protestant bishops condemned the ‘continuing harassment and intimidation’ of environmental defenders after three residents opposing mining operations were arrested in Nueva Vizcaya. …The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Council of Bishops … linked the arrests to broader concerns over harassment, intimidation, and legal actions reportedly directed against environmental defenders in Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela, including nearly 20 reported strategic lawsuits against public participation.”
The OceanaGold Didipio Mine in Nueva Vizcaya
The Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights (CPSHR) has noted the criminalization of the three Indigenous land defenders in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, but further highlighted the plans to further expand the Vancouver-based OceanaGold Didipio Mine in Nueva Vizcaya (about 24 kilometres east of Kasibu).
CPSHR says: “On Friday, July 3, OceanaGold and President Ferdinand R. Marcos met at the Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver, BC. At this meeting, OceanaGold announced that they planned to invest $1.9 billion USD in the expansion and operation of the Didipio Mine in Nueva Vizcaya.”
They further noted: “In this same visit, Marcos had a meeting with B2Gold executives (alongside Filminera Resources Corp) to talk about a $14 million USD expansion of the Masbate Gold Project.”
And CPSHR highlighted: “Canada remains complicit, both in providing military aid to the oppressive government that routinely and violently suppresses activists, and by having very large assets in mining companies in the country, such as OceanaGold and B2Gold.”
Military linked to killings of land and environmental defenders
Global Witness and Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) have reported: “Since 2012, the Philippines has been ranked as the deadliest country in Asia for people protecting land and the environment, with mining linked to a third of all killings documented by Global Witness. …The military has been linked to the highest number of documented killings and detentions of land and environmental defenders in the Philippines over the past decade. These abuses have gone unchecked.”
Arms exports and human rights
PBI-Canada continues to make the link between the export of “military goods” and violations against human rights defenders, their organizations and communities. In the context of the attacks documented by Global Witness and Kalikasan PNE, we further note that a delegation from the Philippines attended the CANSEC arms show this past May 27-28, 2026, at the Cohere Centre in Ottawa.
Given the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) that Canada and the Philippines signed in Manila in November 2025, as well as the Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement (MLSA) and a Statement of Intent (SOI) for Deepening Defense Cooperation signed in Ottawa in June 2026, it can be expected that the Philippines military will again be at CANSEC this coming June 2-3, 2027.
We continue to follow this.
