14/09/2025
๐๐ข๐๐จ๐ ๐ก| ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐?
In the naturally vibrant hills of Nueva Vizcaya, the mining debate remains unsettled. The recent granting of an exploration license to London-based Metals Exploration PLC for its Dupax del Norte project has roused old wounds and revived memories of historic confrontations, rekindling doubts about the future of the provinceโs natural resources and ancestral lands. Now, we Novo Vizcayanos are being asked once againโhow fiercely we are willing to defend what has always been ours.
Nueva Vizcaya is no stranger to the hum of drills or the tension that rises when foreign corporations set their eyes on gold and copper beneath our hills. Each time the earth trembles under the weight of mining ambitions, a memory of legal battes and efforts spent guarding their water sources runs through the people.
This time, though, the outcry is being expressed through timelines and comment threads. As the hills brace for another round, Novo Vizcayanos are left with a choice to either let this be just another fallen fight, or turn the whispers of past defeats into a roar that cannot be ignored.
๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ
The people of Nueva Vizcaya have repeatedly stood their ground. In 2008, then-Governor Luisa Cuaresma and other provincial officials were even sued for blocking OceanaGold Philippines Inc.โs Didipio operations.
Years later, in June 2019, when OceanaGoldโs Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) expired, Governor Carlos Padilla issued a cease-and-desist order. Local communities responded with โpeopleโs barricadesโ that stopped operationsโat least for a timeโshowing how grassroots resistance could triumph, even against powerful corporate interests (Manila Standard, 2021).
But the national government eventually renewed OceanaGoldโs FTAA despite local protests, illustrating how corporate persistence and political maneuvering can outlast even the fiercest local opposition. Some earlier fights collapsed quietly after a few leaders who once shouted โnoโ later went silent, persuaded by payouts or promises. Others simply grew weary, and some feared for their lives. These fractures raised from quiet transactions show how mining firms often strategize on endurance, waiting for resistance to wane.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐
๐๐ฒ๐น ๐ก๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐บ๐ฎ
Let us now be in August 2025. The Mines and Geosciences Bureau granted Woggle Corporation an exploration permit for 3,100 hectares in Dupax del Norte. Plans to use the Runruno ore processing plant just 20 kilometers away raise familiar fears. Residents of Barangays Oyao, Bitnong, and Munguia strongly oppose in a formal note: โWeโฆ unanimously and firmly declare our opposition to any form of mining exploration or mining activities within the territorial jurisdiction of Barangay Oyao.โ For many, itโs a line in the sand drawn with memories of lost battles and temporary victories.
๐๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐
The Catholic Church has added its voice. Bishop Jose Elmer Mangalinao reminded Novo Vizcayanos that their province is a watershed lifeline for Cagayan Valley and beyond. Mining threatens water supplies, farms, and fisherfolk who depend on healthy rivers. Allowing mining here could erase generations of stewardship, replacing fertile lands and forest cover with poisoned streams and barren slopes.
๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Forums and consultations must be genuine, not scripted shows where critical voices are silenced or reduced to slips of paper. Congressman Tim Caytonโs proposed House Bill 4502, the Nueva Vizcaya as Watershed Haven Enhanced Protection Act, offers a chance to enshrine protection into law, but legislation only matters if people demand its passage and monitor its enforcement.
Across Dupax del Norte, locals are making waves online, transforming pages and community chats into rallying points under hashtags like and , a digital barricade as potent as any formed on the ground.
In a Facebook post, a citizen wrote: โWeโve inherited these hills, not the profits of outsiders. If we donโt defend them now, what stories will we have left to tell our children?โ
Will this be another fallen fight for the Vizcaya Hills? It doesnโt have to be. If history teaches us anything, itโs that people power in Nueva Vizcaya has always stood tall especially now in the rise of online synergism. Our hills have memories. And if vigilance replaces apathy, the rivers will carry the unbroken song of a province that refused to fall.
Written by ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฉ
Cartoon by ๐๐ญ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต
