URGENT ALERT: Stop the Harassment and Intimidation of the Police in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya
The Center for Environmental Concerns – Philippines (CEC), in solidarity with the barricading communities of Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, strongly condemns the continued presence of the Philippine National Police (PNP) at the people’s anti-mining barricade in Barangay Paquet and calls for the immediate withdrawal of all police personnel from the area.
At around 11:00 AM on 5 August 2026, more than 30 PNP vehicles arrived at the community barricades in Kasibu under the leadership of Police Brigadier General Mariano C. Rodriguez, Regional Director of Police Regional Office 2, and PCOL Paul T. Bometivo, Provincial Director of the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Police Office. According to local organization Alyansa ng Novo Vizcayano para sa Kalikasan (ANVIK), police officers demanded the removal of the barricades, claiming they were built on a municipal road. Residents maintained that the barricades stand on privately owned and titled land. Despite this, the PNP left seven armed police officers at the Paquet barricade while police units continued patrolling other barangays within the 4,456-hectare exploration area of North Luzon Mineral Resources Corporation (NLMRC).
The deployment of armed police at a peaceful community barricade constitutes harassment and intimidation of Indigenous Peoples and farming communities who are lawfully exercising their constitutional rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and a balanced and healthful ecology. International human rights standards recognize that the presence of security forces at peaceful protests can create a chilling effect, particularly where environmental defenders have already been subjected to reprisals and judicial harassment.
The barricades were established by Indigenous Peoples and farming communities to oppose the mining exploration activities of NLMRC, citing threats to their ancestral lands, livelihoods, forests, water sources, and biodiversity. For nearly three months, the people’s barricades have successfully halted the company’s exploration activities.
This is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of harassment
This latest police deployment is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of harassment against environmental defenders in Nueva Vizcaya. In June 2026, a case of forcible entry was filed against Bishop Jose Elmer Mangalinao and Fr. Christian Dumangeng who supported the peaceful barricades. The Municipal Trial Court of Kasibu later dismissed the case and denied the requested injunction.
NLMRC has likewise filed cyberlibel complaints against community leader Lei Jin Dugay and people’s lawyers Atty. Edgardo Balgos and Atty. Fidel Santos over their public statements and advocacy questioning the company’s mining exploration project. Taken together, these incidents demonstrate a disturbing pattern of intimidation and criminalization aimed at discouraging communities from exercising their democratic rights and defending their environment.
We call on the PNP to immediately withdraw all police personnel from the community
CEC calls on the PNP to immediately withdraw all police personnel from the community, cease all acts of harassment and intimidation, and respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and residents of Kasibu. We likewise call on other government agencies to heed the long-standing demands of affected communities by suspending NLMRC’s exploration activities and reviewing the validity of its exploration permit.
We urge civil society organizations, environmental defenders, human rights advocates and fellow Filipinos to stand in solidarity with the people of Kasibu by demanding the immediate withdrawal of police forces from the barricades, an end to the criminalization of environmental defenders, and full respect for the people’s rights.
Protect the people, not mining corporations.
Withdraw the police forces from the people’s barricades.
Stop the harassment and intimidation of anti-mining communities.
Defend Nueva Vizcaya. Defend the people’s rights
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