Groups decry criminal raps vs Nueva Vizcaya anti-mining advocates

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — Human rights and legal groups condemned what they called the “escalating, systematic harassment” of lawyers and community leaders opposing “destructive corporate mining” in Nueva Vizcaya. The groups issued the statement after North Luzon Mineral Resources Corp. (NLMRC) filed a cyberlibel complaint this month against Fidel Santos and Edgardo Balgos, who represent local communities in Kasibu. Last week, residents of Kasibu and Dupax del Norte went to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Quezon City to demand the immediate revocation of NLMRC’s exploration permit. Article continues after this advertisement The permit, issued on June 25, 2025, allowed the mining company to explore for gold, copper and other minerals across an estimated 4,456 hectares in Kasibu. Kasibu is 39 kilometers from Dupax del Norte, where residents and police had intense confrontations over the operations of Woggle Corp. READ: Fighting for their land, Vizcaya folk take aim vs mining Last year, Woggle Corp. was granted a permit to explore for minerals across more than 3,100 hectares in the villages of Bitnong, Inaban, Mungia, Parai and Oyao. The MGB suspended the company’s exploration permit in an order dated Feb. 5. READ: MGB temporarily stops mining firm’s activities in Nueva Vizcaya Article continues after this advertisement Some community leaders and Bayombong Bishop Jose Elmer Mangalinao, who opposed Woggle Corp. and later NLMRC, also faced criminal complaints, although the case has since been dismissed. Florentino Daynos, however, faces a cyberlibel complaint filed by NLMRC on June 19 over his support for a community barricade against mining exploration in Kasibu. Article continues after this advertisement Two weeks earlier, Daynos and another community leader, Anthony Glenn Guingayan Sr., were informed that some residents had filed cyberlibel complaints against them. Lian Buan, Southeast Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said: “Philippine prosecutors should dismiss criminal complaints filed by companies to silence communities raising concerns about their business operations.” READ: Nueva Vizcaya residents want mining firm’s permit revoked HRW said the pattern of criminal libel cases against community leaders and their legal representatives had the effect of strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPP suits. Santos said, “This [criminal libel case] creates a chilling effect, because if their defender is being harassed, then the more afraid they [residents] are.” The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) described the criminal complaints as a “textbook” abuse of legal mechanisms intended not to vindicate a genuine legal right but to exhaust, intimidate and silence human rights defenders, activists and dissenters. “It perverts the legal system and co-opts community institutions into instruments of political reprisal. Persona non grata resolutions, meanwhile, are hostile declarations that are never mere expressions of disagreement, but rather dangerous instruments of state and corporate sanction designed to stigmatize, isolate, and endanger advocates on the ground,” the NUPL said. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Nueva Vizcaya Chapter said, “The filing of legal actions should never be used to discourage or chill legitimate advocacy.” “Any attempt to intimidate members of the Bar from performing their professional responsibilities raises serious concerns for the administration of justice and the rule of law,” it said. The NUPL said Santos merely sought transparency regarding the mining company’s legal compliance and the irreversible human and environmental toll of its operations in Kasibu. “For fulfilling this professional and ethical duty, he is made to face malicious prosecution and public exclusion,” it said. Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful. Balgos, meanwhile, “faces an identical campaign of vilification and intimidation precisely because he, too, refused to betray the people’s cause by remaining silent,” the NUPL said. /dm