Court halts anti-mining roadblocks in Benguet

MANKAYAN, Benguet — A Benguet regional trial court (RTC)  has ordered residents opposing a mining exploration project in this town to stop blocking access roads leading to the drilling sites of Crescent Mining and Development Corporation (CMDC), while the company maintained that its exploration activities are lawful and fully permitted.

Presiding Judge Daniel Dazon Mangallay of RTC in Abatan, Buguias, on Friday, issued a 72-hour temporary restraining order (TRO) directing protesters to cease obstructing the company’s exploration operations.

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The court granted the TRO after CMDC filed a complaint for injunction with damages, arguing that the community barricades had caused “grave injustice and irreparable injury” by preventing drilling equipment and personnel from reaching the exploration sites.

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The respondents named in the order include Bulalacao Barangay Captain Satur Lostbayan Anton, Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative Marlo Pablo, Gary Dulag Sr., Aldrin Dominguez, Glenn Inciong, Wilbur Labi, Noel Labi, Irma Pangsil, Efren Camsol, and several unidentified individuals.

The court ordered the respondents and anyone acting on their behalf to stop preventing CMDC, its officers, employees, and contractors from accessing the project site and conducting drilling activities.

It also authorized the acting sheriff to seek assistance from law enforcement agencies to enforce the order, if necessary.

A summary hearing has been scheduled on July 13 to determine whether the TRO should be converted into a preliminary injunction.

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The dispute stems from months of barricades mounted by residents and students from the villages of Bulalacao and Guinaoang, who oppose the company’s exploration project over concerns about its potential impact on ancestral lands, water sources, and agricultural livelihoods.

Opposition intensified after the government renewed CMDC’s 25-year Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) in 2022.

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Residents argued that the renewal proceeded without obtaining the required Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) from affected Indigenous communities.

Mining opponents have also questioned the validity of government approvals for the project, alleging that they bypassed the genuine consent of directly affected villages.

In a statement released Friday, the No Mines Movement of Guinaoang and Bulalacao (NM-MGB) condemned the TRO, calling it a “strategic lawsuit against public participation” (SLAPP) intended to dismantle the community’s peaceful barricade.

The group also questioned the legality of the project’s permits, alleging that the MPSA renewal was granted despite the absence of a valid Certification Precondition from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

NM-MGB maintained that residents of Bulalacao and Guinaoang had rejected the project during the FPIC process and vowed to continue defending their ancestral lands through peaceful means.

CMDC, however, said the TRO “addresses only the physical blocking of lawful, permitted operations” and “does not restrict anyone’s right to speak, assemble, petition or oppose this project.”

The company said it sought court intervention solely to remove physical obstructions to its exploration work, not to silence critics.

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CMDC added that its exploration program had been approved by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau and that the NCIP had issued a Certification Precondition after the recognized representatives of the ancestral domain signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the company.

The company acknowledged that some residents have legitimate concerns over the project’s possible effects on farmland, water resources, and livelihoods, and said it remains committed to pursuing a peaceful resolution that upholds both the rule of law and the rights of Indigenous communities. /gsg