Environmental groups, scientists, farmers, and indigenous peoples protested at the FCF Minerals Corporation office in Makati City on January 28 to denounce its environmental plunder and destruction and its human rights violations in Nueva Vizcaya and elsewhere in the country.

FCF Minerals operates the mine in Barangay Runruno, Quezon, Nueva Vizcaya. It covers 3,093 hectares of mountain land for gold and molybdenum (a mineral used in electronics). The company has long been notorious for its destructive mining operations, environmental devastation, displacement of communities, human rights abuses, and seizure of land and livelihood from residents and indigenous peoples.

Woggle Corporation is 60% owned by FCF Minerals Corporation and 40% by Metals Exploration PLC. Both are subsidiaries of British mining company Metals Exploration PLC.

FCF Minerals Corporation subsidiary Yamang Mineral Corporation had an exploration project in Abra province but the lack of Free, Prior and Informed Consent and the widespread opposition of Abra residents stopped its operations in 2024. It covers 16,187 hectares, spanning the towns of Licuan-Baay, Sallapadan, Lacub, and Malibcong. The company plans to mine gold, copper, molybdenum, and other minerals in the area.

A Metals Exploration PLC document stated its plan to enter Dupax del Norte, through Woggle Corporation, to continue the ore-processing operations of FCF Minerals in Barangay Runruno once the area’s mineral reserves are depleted. The firm plans to transport and process whatever may be extracted from Dupax del Norte in Runruno.

“This kind of set-up secures a long-term channel for extracting wealth for British capital, while Nueva Vizcaya faces environmental destruction, land grabbing, and social damage,” Kalikasan said.

“The Philippines does not need another foreign corporation stealing our resources. The people demand an end to environmental plunder and call to defend the right to save our environment for the next generation!” the group declared.