Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment
Statement
June 17 2025
Once again, the Philippine government has laid our sovereignty on the auction block. While Australian-Canadian mining giant OceanaGold is handed yet another multimillion-dollar ‘exploration’ pass to plunder our lands, what do ordinary Filipinos get? Only more blood-soaked profits carved from our lands, our people, and our future.
Let’s be clear: this $5-million deal didn’t come out of nowhere. It is the direct result of the newly ratified mining fiscal regime, rammed through Congress at the behest of Finance Secretary Ralph Recto and President Marcos, Jr. This so-called “reform” slashes the government’s share, and locks in investor-friendly tax rates, and opens the floodgates for more foreign mining giants to bleed the country dry – all under the guise of “responsible and sustainable mineral development”. The bill institutionalizes a system that prioritizes investor profits over the rights and welfare of our people and environment, setting a dangerous precedent for more destructive megaprojects.
Malacañang has once again shown itself to be a regime designed for the wholesale looting of our natural wealth. This comes at the cost of polluted rivers, flattened forests, displaced indigenous peoples, and the ongoing endangerment of our environmental defenders who dare to resist it.
As his midterm mark approaches, President Marcos, Jr. has fully unmasked himself as a plunderer. He is not even pretending anymore, openly boasting the Philippines should be the world’s top nickel exporter. Coated in false promises of ‘reviving the economy’ and ‘green energy transition,’ our lands are gutted by the second so that wealthy mega-corporations can build their “clean projects” and “green economy” off our destruction, while we choke on the dust.
This is beyond enough. We call on every Filipino, and everyone who defends human rights and the environment, to join us in demanding Marcos, Jr.
End this cycle of imperialist plunder! Junk the Philippine Mining Act now! Pass the People’s Mining Bill! Defend our lands, our lives, and our sovereignty!
#EndImperialismPlunder
#PHNotForSale
#MarcosSingilinDutertePanagutin
