Philippines: stand with the Indigenous resistance to nickel mining in Palawan!

The order to dismantle the barricade was based on a resolution issued by IPDO BICAMM, an organization whose legitimacy is widely contested by Pala’wan leaders. In a striking display of bias, NCIP Provincial Director Atty. Jansen Jontilla personally served the dismantling order while wearing a mining helmet – a clear sign of where NCIP’s loyalties lie, and a betrayal of the very communities the agency is legally mandated to protect.

Illegitimate leaders elevated, true custodians ignored

IPDO BICAMM President Julhadi Titte, a key figure behind the dismantling, claimed that the barricade violated prior agreements and breached Indigenous peoples’ rights under the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA). But Pala’wan leaders reject this narrative outright. One argues: “Titte is not a legitimate Indigenous leader. He does not belong to the Pala’wan tribes, and IPDO BICAMM does not represent the true custodians of the ancestral domain, across the six  ‘barangays’ [administrative units]”. Yet NCIP continues to elevate such figures – a pattern that conveniently aligns with mining interests.

Another respected Pala’wan representative states:

“IPDO BICAMM was created through collusion between mining companies and NCIP. Our legitimate leaders are reorganizing through PEKP [traditional leaders], supported by MKE [women’s groups] and SAMAKA [youth opposing mining].”

A flawed Free Prior and Informed Consent process – manipulated to favor mining

According to Pala’wan leaders, the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) process was manipulated by NCIP officials. One leader explains: “NCIP validated mining approval through dubious ‘majority’ votes rather than genuine consensus, as required by IPRA.”

An Indigenous woman advocate corroborates:

“Several of those consulted are not truly Indigenous. They collaborate with mining companies for personal gain. They speak in our name without our consent – and NCIP validates them instead of us.”

Mining agreements built on fraud and violations

The consultations involved illegitimate leaders, not the true custodians recognized by local communities.

Indigenous leaders are now demanding an investigation into how the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was secured and how mining approvals were pushed through despite widespread opposition.

Former Brooke’s Point Councilor and Indigenous leader Victor Colili asks:

“Why does NCIP follow the orders of a group that manages mining royalties – instead of the Indigenous community that actually lives within the ancestral lands to be mined?”

Brooke’s Point Vice Mayor Mary Jean Feliciano adds:

“NCIP was created to protect Indigenous peoples, not undermine them. When decisions affecting ancestral domains disregard the voices of those who have long protected these lands, public trust in the institution collapses.”

Legal violations, broken promises, and a threat to a UNESCO landscape

MacroAsia/Calmia promised nine programs for Indigenous peoples in the MOA – none have been realized. Their mining tenement overlaps with the Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape (MMPL), a UNESCO-recognized biodiversity hotspot that feeds 33 rivers and providing ecosystem services valued at US$5.5 billion to 200,000 people.

The project also lacks a business permit from the Brooke’s Point mayor and should not be allowed to proceed under Provincial Ordinance No. 3646, which imposes a 50-year mining moratorium. Yet enforcement agencies continue to ignore these violations. This reflects a familiar pattern in Philippine resource governance: corruption, clientelism, and impunity, undermining Palawan’s status as a UNESCO Man & Biosphere Reserve and threatening one of the country’s last intact forests.

A dangerous legislative shift

The Philippines has some of Asia’s strongest Indigenous rights laws. Yet corruption hollows them out. Even the landmark Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) is now under threat. Proposed laws would transfer IPRA functions from NCIP to DENR – the same agency whose Mines and Geosciences Bureau grants mining permits. If passed, Indigenous rights would fall under the authority of an agency that enables their erosion. This would mark the death of IPRA.

To support the Indigenous Pala’wan of Sitio Linao, Barangay Ipilan, Brooke’s Point, please sign the petition today.

To: Mayor Hon. Cesareo Benedito Jr., Municipality of Brooke’s Point; Governor of Palawan Hon. Amy Roa Alvarez; PCSD Executive Director Atty. Teodoro Jose S. Matta; DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga; NCIP Chairperson Jennifer Pia Sibug-Las and others

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Each month brings further troubling reports of mining operations advancing into Palawan, a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve. Alongside concerned people worldwide, we are particularly alarmed by developments in the municipality of Brooke’s Point. The mining tenements of companies including Ipilan Nickel Corporation (INC) and Calmia-MacroAsia overlap with the Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape (MMPL), an area of both national and international ecological significance. Further degradation of these areas risks irreversible harm to Palawan’s future. Public records show that at least 218,854 trees have already been targeted under ‘Special Tree Cutting and EarthBalling Permits’ for mining operations in Palawan. This number is staggering not only because of the trees themselves, but because each permit threatens watersheds, biodiversity, soil stability and the ecological systems that sustain life on the island.

We were deeply concerned to learn that the municipal government recently endorsed the renewal for Ipilan Nickel Corporation. This decision would authorize the cutting of approximately 32,000 trees in primary forest. We sincerely hope that this decision, supported by nine members of the Sangguniang Bayan, can still be reconsidered and ultimately reversed in the interest of long-term environmental stewardship.

We are equally concerned about the situation in Sitio Linao, where the barricade erected by Indigenous residents to stop Calmia’s heavy equipment was dismantled on June 29. This community has safeguarded and sustainably managed its environment for generations. Its grievances require urgent attention and meaningful action. The people of Sitio Linao are not alone in facing the damage caused by mining; the livelihoods of farmers and fisherfolk across Brooke’s Point are already being undermined, as seen in the experience of Barangay Maasin Proper. This pattern of harm cannot be allowed to continue.

We respectfully urge your office not to endorse a business permit for Calmia Nickel Inc and that existing operations – particularly those of INC – are not permitted to expand, and ideally are halted altogether. While the recent provincial moratorium on new mining applications is a welcome step, it is discouraging to learn that several officials are circumventing it with increasing ease and impunity.

Please be assured that international civil society organizations are closely monitoring the situation in Palawan and remain committed to supporting efforts to protect what has long been recognized as the “Philippines’ Last Ecological Frontier.”

As mayor, you hold the authority and responsibility to ensure that Brooke’s Point remains one of the greenest and most beautiful municipalities in Palawan. We earnestly hope that you will use your mandate to safeguard the forests Indigenous peoples have protected for centuries, so that future generations may inherit a landscape that remains intact, vibrant, and life-sustaining.

Yours faithfully,