The group No Mines Movement of Guinaoang and Bulalacao (NM-MGB) strongly condemned a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 64 on July 10 against residents of Mankayan. The order stems from the residents’ setting up barricades to block Crescent Mining and Development Corporation (CMDC) from entering their community. The case is a clear and direct attack on residents defending their ancestral land, the group said.

The court ordered Satur Lostbayan S. Anton, Bulalacao’s barangay chairman, along with Marlo Pablo, the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR), and other residents to cease picketing, blocking roads, or taking any action that would obstruct the entry of the company’s drilling equipment into planned drill sites. They were also barred from preventing, obstructing, or interfering with the entry of CMDC officials, employees, and representatives, as well as the continuation of exploration drilling operations in the project area. The TRO is effective for 72 hours upon receipt of the order. A hearing is scheduled for July 13 to hear arguments from both sides.

The company’s exploration machinery immediately arrived in the barangay on the day the court issued the TRO. Nevertheless, residents remained undeterred and stayed at the barricades. Some residents blocked the road with vehicles they use for vegetable deliveries to prevent the company from entering.

“We, the people, will never leave or surrender. Together with our fellow residents in Guinaoang and Bulalacao, we will firmly resist the entry of machinery that will destroy the land, water sources, and livelihoods. We will use our highest means… this peaceful barricade, to save our ‘ili.’ For us, the true and highest law that no legal instrument can overturn is the preservation of life, land, and the future of our children,” the NM-MGB said in a statement.

The validity of the renewal of CMDC’s Mineral Production Sharing Agreement in March 2022 is questionable, as it took place more than a year before the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples issued a Certification Precondition in September 2025, the group said. Under Section 59 of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA), no permit, license, or concession may be issued or renewed without prior certification.

The group also questioned the consent process, noting that villages directly affected by the project rejected it during the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process, where they were “unfairly outvoted by residents in surrounding areas who are not as heavily affected by the mining operations.”

In addition, the local government of Mankayan was reportedly forced to lift a municipal cease-and-desist order against the company, despite an existing local ordinance regulating agricultural land use.

The group stated that if the company is allowed to proceed, agricultural lands making up 60% of the community will be destroyed. Consequently, local food security and livelihoods would be sacrificed for an industry that contributes only 1% to national employment.

The No Mines Movement of Guinaoang and Bulalacao called on all environmental defenders, civic organizations, and the public to stand in solidarity with the people of Mankayan in defending their ancestral land, livelihoods, and families against the greed of Crescent Mining and Development Corporation.