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Filipino farmers, environmentalists score victory against British mining firm
Despite repeated arrests and police attacks, residents have stood up and defended their anti-mining barricade, forcing the government to issue a cease and desist order against Woggle Corporation
- PUBLISHED: Wed 11 Feb 2026, 12:59 PM
Brave residents of the mountainous municipality of Dupax del Norte in northern Philippines have scored a victory against a British mining company, winning a suspension order of mineral explorations in their community.
Despite repeated arrests and police attacks against them over months, the residents have stood up and defended their anti-mining barricade, forcing national government authorities to issue a cease-and-desist order against Woggle Corporation, a subsidiary of British mining firm Metals Exploration.
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Woggle has a vast interest in gold and nickel deposits in the area. It earned widespread condemnation when it chose to seek a court order against the residents' opposition to its activities that resulted in mass arrests.
“Such [community] opposition has resulted in the establishment of barricade and blockades along access roads leading to the exploration site, thereby impeding entry and giving rise to concerns affecting public safety, peace, and order,” the government’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) director Michael Cabalda explained, underscoring the temporary suspension declaration orders Woggle Corp. to “cease and desist effective immediately".
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The order shall remain in force until things have normalised, added Cabalda, noting: “Despite interventions undertaken by concerned government authorities, conditions have persisted and continue to prevent the safe, orderly, and lawful conduct of exploration activities.”
Collective action
Local environmentalists, activists and church groups have welcomed the exploration suspension order, calling it a victory of “collective action.”
“We welcome this suspension and celebrate with the people of Dupax. Let this be our affirmation of the necessity of collective action–that protesting, organizing, and defending our rights yield results, and that the struggle of Indigenous Peoples is just,” Indigenous peoples’ rights advocates Katribu said.
Katribu, however, stressed that the suspension is temporary and vowed to continue their solidarity to Dupax del Norte residents until Woggle Corporation is driven out.
Regional support group Taripnong Cagayan Valley likewise called on the government to issue a permanent ban against the British subsidiary, calling the temporary order “a naked attempt to lull residents into complacency.”
“Because the suspension is temporary, Woggle Corporation may seek other devious ways to continue with its unwanted exploration, including using the military and the police in their operations,” Taripnong underscored.
