Indigenous Palaw’an and residents of Sityo Linao, Barangay Ipilan, Brooke’s Point in Palawan set up a barricade starting March 26 to block the entry and mining operations of Calmia Nickel, Inc. They said the company’s intrusion into their ancestral land violates their rights.

The indigenous people used wood to build a blocking fence. They reinforced it with large stones so the fence could stand more firmly.

The indigenous people and residents keep strict watch at the barricade to make sure that the company can’t smuggle in more backhoes, trucks, and heavy mining equipment. They cook, eat, and rest at the barricade. Elders and younger residents, women and men, stay there together.

The company is threatening and harassing them for their resistance. It has threatened to sue indigenous people’s “Panlima” leader Celso Paida.

“I am presently opposing mining. Because this is what is happening to us. We are no longer respected … So this is why I am here, this is my stand, and I will really fight to prevent this from pushing through,” Paida said. He also warned that if mining goes ahead in Barangay Ipilan, its expansion to continue into nearby barangays will be possible.

Calmia Nickel, Inc., which will operate the Infanta Nickel Project mine, was contracted by MacroAsia Mining Corporation, a subsidiary of MicroAsia Corp. The corporation is owned by comprador bourgeois Lucio Tan.

It secured a mining permit from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in January. It was given an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) in December 2023. The project is also said to have obtained a permit from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development.

Brooke’s Point local officials have expressed opposition to the project. They said any operation or activity by the said company in the mine has no permission from the local government. Calmia Nickel, Inc. guards blocked local government officials from entering the site on March 30 from having no permissions.

A National Democratic Front-Palawan statement called on the Palaweño people to oppose mining and support the indigenous Palaw’an’s barricade.The group’s spokesperson Ka Leona Paragua said the company’s mining is a blatant desecration of ancestral land and a violation of the rights of indigenous people who care for the environment and live from, and cultivate, all its gifts.

“Calmia Nickel Corporation and others like it that desecrate the lands of peasants and indigenous people should be charged for their environmental destruction and their threats, harassment, and intimidation of the people,” she said.

Paragua added that mining corporations have been destroying the island of Palawan for decades, and that it has brought nothing but danger to life and livelihood, environmental destruction, and severe disasters. Many have already died because of disasters brought about by the severe mountain denudation.

NDF-Palawan called for the further strengthening and expansion of the unity of indigenous people and the masses. “This is the main weapon and strength to win the struggle against destructive mining and land grabbing,” Paragua said.