@lrcphl.bsky.social
Campaigning with Indigenous and frontline communities in securing their rights to land, resources, and self-determination. Through legal action, research, and advocacy, we challenge environmental exploitation and advance climate justice. lrcksk.org
📖 Read more about women and mining in our publication Mining as a Women’s Issue.
www.lrcksk.org/_files/ugd/d...
Yet women in mining-affected communities continue to resist large-scale mining that threaten their lands and their communities. They bring stability, cohesiveness, and morale into community struggles that have succeeded time and again against extractive and destructive mining projects. ✊🏽🌏
The roles of indigenous and rural women as stewards of land and water are heavily burdened as mining causes the collapse of subsistence livelihoods and the spread of environmental damage.
Large-scale mining disturbs not only the topographies of nature, but also the cultural landscapes of indigenous territories and other communities. 📖 Read more about women and mining in our publication Mining as a Women’s Issue. Link in the comments.
On International Women’s Day ✊🏽🌸, we recognized the interconnection of women’s rights with the integrity of ecology in the face of large-scale mining.
This affirms the rights and role of communities in directly acting to safeguard their environment, livelihood, and lives. May we continue to be brave and bold in defending our environment, our rights, and our democracy. Our barricades are our EDSA.
#EDSAat40
#PeoplePower
#OurRights
#OurFuture
The UN SR on Environmental Defenders articulated in the Guidelines on the Right to Peaceful Environmental Protests and Civil Disobedience, that acts of civil disobedience are protected under the right of peaceful assembly in article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
This kind of People Power that in history has deposed a dictator is recognized by international law as a legitimate exercise of rights.
Like citizens of Nueva Vizcaya who have a history of taking to the barricades from Kasibu to Dupax del Norte in the face of large-scale mining encroachment, the spirit of EDSA lives on in their assertion of their Constitutional rights–a Constitution created by the exercise of People Power itself
Forty years after EDSA, People Power continues to evolve, reminding us that collective action remains a vital force in defending our rights, communities, and the future we share.
This kind of People Power that in history has deposed a dictator is recognized by international law as a legitimate exercise of rights.
Like the citizens of Nueva Vizcaya who have a history of taking to the barricades from Kasibu to Dupax del Norte in the face of large-scale mining encroachment, the spirit of EDSA lives on in their assertion of their Constitutional rights–a Constitution created by the exercise of People Power itself
This kind of People Power that in history has deposed a dictator is recognized by international law as a legitimate exercise of rights.
Like the citizens of Nueva Vizcaya who have a history of taking to the barricades from Kasibu to Dupax del Norte in the face of large-scale mining encroachment, the spirit of EDSA lives on in their assertion of their Constitutional rights–a Constitution created by the exercise of People Power itself
we call for the faithful compliance with the statutory and constitutional requirements that safeguard communities and the national patrimony,” Atty. Roset ended.
“Ultimately, the people of Nueva Vizcaya must be treated not as obstacles to development, but as the primary stewards of their territory. As the General Welfare Clause vests in LGUs both the power and duty to ensure the well-being of their constituents,
social, political, and economic decision-making under Article XIII, Section 16, and their right to freedom of speech, expression, and to peaceably assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances under Article III, Section 4.
In the recent dispersal of the barricade mounted by citizens against the exploration activities, the blockade was seen as an assertion of this nexus of rights, which are also linked to their broader constitutional right to effective and reasonable participation at all levels of
The Center noted that consultation and prior approval by the LGU for environmentally-critical projects must always be exercised in the context of its statutory duty to protect the environment and the fundamental right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology.
...the national government has excluded the communities that bear the direct brunt of mining’s impact on health, water security, agriculture, and livelihood,” said Atty. Ryan Roset, LRC Senior Legal Fellow.
“In Nueva Vizcaya, national agencies have erroneously treated prior consultation requirements as mere formalities. By granting exploration rights to Woggle and renewing FTAA No. 001 of OceanaGold despite active local opposition...
📝 In a position paper presented to the Senate Committees on Local Government and on Environment, Natural Resources, and Climate Change, LRC pointed out that the LGU bypass by Woggle mirrors the case of local autonomy violations in the FTAA renewal of OceanaGold in the neighboring town of Kasibu.
The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center today said the anomalous issuance of an exploration permit to British firm Woggle Corporation in Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya reflects a broader, systemic pattern of violations of the people’s right to prior consultations through local governments.
🔎 To read the full report, scan the QR code in the last image or visit our website.
Respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights means prioritizing ancestral domains and strengthening support for Indigenous knowledge systems, alongside ensuring adequate financial, material, and technical resources to sustain their stewardship of lands and natural resources.
The findings of SIPA 2025 remind us that social justice is inseparable from environmental and climate justice, and that protecting Indigenous customary governance and their territories is central to achieving both.
These trends translate into real grave consequences for Indigenous communities, including displacement, loss of livelihoods, weakened biodiversity protection, and heightened tensions in ancestral domains where large-scale projects proceed without proper recognition of Indigenous governance.
These overlaps illustrate how competing land uses continue to fragment forest ecosystems and intensify pressures on communities that depend on these landscapes for their livelihoods and cultural survival.
‘Forest grabbing’ projects through forest tenurial instruments account for the largest share of area conflicts, followed by fossil fuel extraction, mining, renewable energy, infrastructure development, and agriculture.
