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Protesters target Camp Crame over mining ops, rights violations

Jing Villamente··1 MIN READ

(July 14 2026) Anti-mining residents of Kasibu and Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya, joined by environmental advocates, march to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Central Office in Quezon City, for a picket-dialogue on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, demanding the revocation of the exploration permit granted to North Luzon Mineral Resources Corporation (NLMRC). The protesters said the permit, approved by the DENR's Mines and Geosciences Bureau in July 2025, covers 4,456 hectares of community land and overlaps with ancestral domain claims in Kasibu. They also alleged that drilling operations began without the free, prior, and informed consent of the affected indigenous communities, in violation of the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act (IPRA). Photo/Analy Labor

Photo by Analy Labor for DAILY TRIBUNE

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About 30 members of the environmental group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment staged a surprise protest Thursday morning outside Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters at Camp Crame.

Demonstrators gathered to demand accountability from the PNP and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration over alleged human rights violations against environmental and indigenous leaders defending ancestral lands.

Participants included leaders from Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, who reported experiencing police brutality and retaliatory legal actions, known as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, filed by North Luzon Mineral Resources Corp.

Community members said local police forcibly dismantled their barricades, which had been set up to block mining activities threatening their livelihoods.

Lei Jin Dugay, a member of Kasibu Intertribal Response for Ecological Development who faces charges stemming from the blockade, criticized police intervention at community checkpoints.

Dugay said the barricades were necessary to prevent mining personnel from entering and destroying agricultural lands.

Members of the Cagayan 11, a group of peasant leaders and community organizers charged under Republic Act 10168, the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012, also participated in the rally.

The group claimed the charges rely on testimonies from alleged former rebels claiming activists supplied goods to New People’s Army encampments in 2019.