12/06/2026
Daytoy Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), nagado ti naaprobaran a permit nga awan am ammo dagiti IPs or approbaran da sakbay a naaramid ti FPIC. Dapat nga maimbistigaan daytoy a department.
BAGUIO CITY — Indigenous residents of Barangay Balatoc, Pasil, Kalinga on June 10 petitioned the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Cordillera to revoke Makilala Mining Company, Inc.’s Certification Precondition (CP) and halt all mining-related activities within their ancestral domain.
“We demand the revocation of the Certification Precondition issued to MMCI and for MMCI to stop any of their activities inside our ancestral domain,” the Balatoc Indigenous Concern Group (BICG) said in its cover letter.
The group also submitted the same petition to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau–Cordillera Administrative Region (MGB-CAR), asserting that the company’s Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) is void. BICG said the MPSA, issued in March 2024, should be voided because it was granted before the NCIP issued the CP in September 2024, in violation of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA).
The filing comes amid continuing opposition by indigenous communities in Pasil against the Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog (MCB) project, which has been the subject of protests and petitions over the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process in recent years.
Earlier this month, the group submitted similar petitions and resolutions to the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) in Kalinga.
According to the petition, MMCI’s MPSA was approved in March 2024, months before the NCIP issued a Certification Precondition in September 2024. The petitioners argued that this sequence violated IPRA provisions requiring the FPIC of affected indigenous communities before mining concessions are approved.
“The law requires that consent be secured before any permit is granted,” the petition stated, citing Supreme Court rulings that recognize compliance with FPIC requirements as a matter of public policy.
The BICG also claimed that the company employed deceptive practices during the FPIC process, including allegedly forging signatures to manufacture consent for a 2022 Memorandum of Agreement.
They further claimed that the mining project has brought militarization, red-tagging, and the presence of armed personnel into their community, creating an atmosphere of intimidation that undermines traditional decision-making processes.
The petitioners also reiterated concerns over the project’s environmental and social impacts. They warned that large-scale mining operations could affect the Pasil and Chico river systems through pollution and depletion of water sources, while contributing to soil erosion and forest loss.
According to the community members, such impacts threaten not only the ecological integrity of their ancestral domain but also the farming and resource-based livelihoods that sustain many families in the area.
Opposition to the Makilala project has persisted for years. Previous Nordis reports documented concerns over the FPIC process as early as 2014, while residents and indigenous organizations have repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of consultations and the consent obtained for the project.
In April 2025, Kalinga residents submitted a separate petition seeking the cancellation of the company’s permits, citing environmental risks and the exclusion of downstream communities from consultations.
MMCI’s MCB Copper-Gold Project spans some 2,500 hectares within the ancestral domain of the Balatoc people in Pasil, Kalinga. MMCI is a subsidiary of an Australian-listed company, Celsius Resources. # nordis.net
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