Indigenous residents of Barangay Balatoc, Pasil, Kalinga urged the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to stop Makilala Mining Company Inc.’s (MMCI) planned large-scale mining on their ancestral land. The indigenous communities also filed complaints with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and other government agencies.

The company secured a permit for a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) and a Certification Precondition (CP) in March 2024 before NCIP issued certification in September of the same year.

According to the indigenous people, the company’s permit approval process flagrantly violated the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act. They said it bypassed the community’s Free, Prior and Informed Consent process before mining began.

Residents of the Balatoc indigenous communities and the Balatoc Young People group said the company forged their signatures. The company deceived residents to obtain permission for the project’s Memorandum of Agreement in 2022. Worse, the mining project was accompanied by militarization, red-tagging, and soldiers intruding their community.

They called the project a threat to their ancestral land and way of life. They said the large-scale mining will pollute and dry the Pasil and Chico rivers, cause landslides, and destroy forests. It will also affect residents’ health and the livelihoods of farmers who depend on cultivation and natural resources.