THE LATEST police action against anti-mining protestors in Barangay Bitnong, Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya on Jan. 23, 2026, has caused national concern as this is the latest protest after similar community actions in other towns such as Kasibu and Quezon against large-scale mining operations.
They have been opposed by angry people protecting their forests, rivers, lands and livelihoods against the incursions of mining companies like Woggle Mining Corp.
Woggle is a subsidiary of the United Kingdom-based company Metals Exploration Plc.
The 3,100-hectare site granted a national government exploration permit for gold and copper covers agricultural land tilled by smallholder farmers and Indigenous families. The local opposition groups describe the operations as “large-scale” and “destructive,” and point out that similar projects of open-pit mining in the region are destructive.
Last October 2025, House Resolution 413 was filed in Congress calling for an investigation into Woggle’s alleged illegal exploration activities and potential permit cancellation. The protests have been supported by religious leaders and the Diocese of Bayombong.
Groups like Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment have issued public statements condemning the project as a threat to “water security and cultural heritage.”
Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Timothy Joseph Cayton and Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima have called for congressional investigations into the legality of Woggle’s exploration permit.
Bishop Jose Elmer Mangalinao and various social action commissions have publicly urged the Marcos administration to cancel the project.
There has been one strong and inspiring voice in defending the planet and the environment against the extractive mining industry, and that is the enduring words of the late pope Francis.
In his historical and powerful instruction to the world in “Laudato Si,” “let there be praise to God” in his 2015 encyclical, “On Care for Our Common Home,” he said that “economic powers continue to justify the current global system where priority tends to be given to the pursuit of financial gain, which fail to take the context into account, let alone the effects on human dignity and the natural environment.”
He said on another occasion that mining activities should benefit every person, and respect and enhance his or her inalienable fundamental human rights, and not vice versa. “We need to ensure that mining activities lead to the integral human development of each and every person, and of the entire community.”
He also said Indigenous people are being deprived and driven off their ancestral homelands for the interests of mining projects which are undertaken “without regard for the degradation of nature and culture.” He said, “I urge everyone to respect fundamental human rights.” (To be continued)/PN
