KARAPATAN condemned the arrest of 11 protesters on August 28, 2026 in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya after police violently broke through a barricade set up by local residents to prevent the entry into their community of crude oil and supplies intended for mining exploration activities.
Almost a thousand residents of Barangay Pacquet in Kasibu set up a barricade to block fuel for the drilling equipment of Northern Luzon Mineral Resources Corp. (NLMRC) which was granted an exploration permit in June 2026 on 4,855 hectares of land in Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino. Up to 4,456 hectares of the exploration area is in Kasibu. The NLRMC plans to explore for gold, copper and other minerals.
Residents of Kasibu and Dupax del Norte, the two Nueva Vizcaya towns affected by the mining exploration, have been demanding that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) revoke the permit, saying that the exploration activities will endanger farms, water sources, homes and ancestral domains. They slammed the DENR for falsely claiming that it had obtained the affected residents’ free, prior and informed consent before it granted the permit.
The residents have been asking for a dialogue, but the NLRMC has so far refused, and has called on the police instead to dismantle the people’s barricade, which had been set up as early as May, after residents discovered NLRMC’s application for a mining exploration permit.
KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay likewise noted that the latest incident in Kasibu forms part of a growing trend to charge protesters with SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) cases. “This is intended to prevent people from exercising their rights to free expression and free speech and to peaceably assemble to air their grievances.”
Palabay said at least 30 SLAPP cases have now been filed against anti-mining activists in Nueva Vizcaya. Prior to the latest arrests, three other anti-mining activists belonging to the Kasibu Intertribal Response for Ecological Development were arrested on August 19, 2026 from the same barricade and charged with grave coercion and disobedience. They have posted bail for their temporary liberty.
News about the violent dispersal in Kasibu has reached United Nations Special Rapporteur on the environment Astrid Puentes Riaño who said she was alarmed over “escalating threats against environmental human rights defenders.” The Roman Catholic charity Caritas has also called for an investigation into the arrests and the police’s use of force against the protesters.
“KARAPATAN is in firm solidarity with the Novovizcayanos as they stand their ground against destructive mining activities. We continue to closely monitor the situation on the ground and vow to support the affected residents in their fight against NLRMC and other predatory mining giants to extract the province’s mineral wealth at the expense of the people’s interests,” concluded Palabay.