TACLOBAN CITY — Residents of MacArthur, Leyte, took to the streets to celebrate as a large cutter suction dredger intended for black sand mining began withdrawing from their community toward the sea.

Residents and supporters of the anti-mining group Unahin Natin Lagi ang Diyos (UNLAD-Leyte) held a vigil and thanksgiving rally Monday, 24 August, as the MV Li Long began moving out of the area.

“We are very happy that the tireless efforts of the anti-mining groups have finally come to fruition. With so many dialogues and meetings with the DENR, in addition to our Open Letter to the President, we are grateful that the dredger has finally been pulled out,” UNLAD-Leyte’s Brenie Morcilla said.

Sailing under the Chinese flag, the MV Li Long arrived off Leyte on 25 January 2026 en route to the mining site of MacArthur Iron Projects Corp. (MIPC), contractor of Strong Built Mining Development Corp. (SBMDC) for magnetite extraction in the area.

Before the equipment could cross the national highway to reach the mining site, however, residents and anti-mining advocates erected a barricade that prevented it from moving forward.

SBMDC was awarded a 25-year Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) on 2 July 2007 covering 7,411.556 hectares of land and municipal waters in the contiguous Leyte towns of MacArthur, Dulag, Mayorga, Javier and Abuyog.

The mining agreement runs until 28 July 2032.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau estimates that the area covered by the MPSA contains more than 220 million dry metric tons of iron mineral deposits.

Alyansa Tigil Mina national coordinator Jaybee Garganera hailed the residents for their sustained opposition to the project.

“From resisting in the barricades, and engaging in dialogues with the DENR to writing a letter to the President and organizing direct actions and information dissemination, the residents were relentless in their struggle to protect their environment and community,” Garganera said.

In a letter to the Leyte provincial board, SBMDC said it was withdrawing the cutter suction dredger from its location and expected to bring it back to the shoreline by 31 August.

Fight not over

Some residents, however, said the withdrawal of the MV Li Long did not mark the end of their campaign.

Anti-mining group spokesperson Jesus Cabias called on the government to cancel SBMDC’s MPSA and compensate farmers who allegedly lost productive land because of previous mining activities.

Cabias claimed 13.79 hectares of previously productive rice land had been transformed into a lake and could no longer be used for economic activity.

He also said another 46 hectares of rice paddies could no longer be cultivated after mining operations allegedly damaged an irrigation canal and left the waterway filled with mud.

Cabias further accused the mining company of failing to fulfill a commitment to rehabilitate rice farms affected during its test operations.