The group Alyansa ng Novo Vizcayano para sa Kalikasan (ANVIK) strongly condemned Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s sale of the country’s natural resources to Canadian mining companies. It said the sale will surely worsen environmental destruction and ruin the livelihoods of the people.

On July 4, Marcos Jr announced OceanaGold’s ₱1.9 billion investment to support the expansion and extension of the Didipio Gold-Copper Project’s operations for an additional two years until 2037. The company has an active mine in Barangay Didipio, Municipality of Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya. The agreement was reached during the Philippines-Canada High-Level Discussion on Mining, Critical Minerals, and Energy, a meeting held in Vancouver. Also present in the meeting were other giant mining companies based in Canada, such as B2Gold Corporation and Filminera Resources Corporation, which jointly operate the Masbate Gold Project. The Masbate Gold Project plans to invest $14 million for a solar plant and exploration project. Meanwhile, B2Gold stated that it will study the extension of its mining operations.

To entice foreign businessmen to invest in the country, Marcos showcased anti-people and pro-business laws, including the CREATE More Act and the Enhanced Fiscal Regime for Large-Scale Metallic Mining Act of 2025, which provide tax holidays and tax incentives to companies.

According to the group, mining’s contribution to the country’s total revenue is minuscule. Despite this, Marcos is lowering taxes paid by big mining companies even further while the same companies export minerals worth billions of dollars out of the country.

The promises of development by giant mining firms are false, it said. The economic condition of Novo-Vizcayanos continues to decline due to the destruction of their land and livelihood.

Currently, residents of Kasibu and Dupax del Norte continue to maintain a barricade to oppose the mining exploration of North Luzon Mineral Resources Corporation and Woggle Corporation, companies both controlled by foreign corporations. The people of Didipio, Kasibu against OCeanaGold’s Didipio Gold-Copper Project for the past several decades due to the disasters it has caused the people, such as the displacement of communities, landslides caused by deforestation, and the destruction of agricultural lands.

The group said these initiatives and laws serve no one but foreign companies that are currently rushing to seize minerals, driven by the accelerating production of semiconductors for various businesses and the manufacturing of military equipment. The plunder of the country’s natural resources is expected to intensify further under the framework of the Pax Silica Initiative and Critical Minerals Agreement signed by President Marcos this 2026.

“Instead of letting in and encouraging foreign corporations to plunder our natural resources, priority should be given to the call to support the indigenous people, gardeners, and farmers of Nueva Vizcaya in their land and livelihood. Develop a national mining industry to serve the Filipino people and not foreign corporations,” ANVIK said in a statement.

“Our country’s natural resources should be for the benefit of the people, and not for foreigners. Amid the intensifying threat of plunder against our natural resources, the people’s fight for the environment, land, and livelihood continues,” the group said.