📷: Police arrest Florentino “Bro Tinong” Daynos after residents’ anti-mining barricade in Dupax Del Norte is dismantled under court order favoring Woogle Mining Corp. (Altermidya | FB)
Former Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate has denounced the arrest of residents in Dupax Del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya who were defending their communities against mining operations, calling the dismantling of their barricade “gravely unjust as it only serves corporate interests over people’s rights.”
“Ang mga inaresto ay hindi kriminal—sila ay mga mamamayan na nag-depensa lamang sa kanilang karapatan sa lupa, kalikasan, at kabuhayan. This is a state-sanctioned violence in the service of mining corporations,” Zarate said in a statement.
He stressed that the incident was not isolated, but part of a broader pattern of repression against communities resisting extractive projects.
“This is not an isolated action—it is part of a systematic pattern of escalating harassment, intimidation, and human rights violations against communities who dare to oppose mining projects that will destroy their lands and livelihoods,” Zarate stated.
Zarate underscored the symbolic importance of the barricade erected by residents. “Ang barricade na ito ay simbolo ng paglaban ng mga komunidad laban sa pagwasak ng kanilang kapaligiran at kabuhayan. The real criminals here are not the residents defending their communities, but the mining corporations and the government officials enabling the plunder of our natural resources,” he added.
The former lawmaker demanded the immediate release of all arrested residents and urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to revoke Woggle’s exploration permit. He also called for a halt to all mining-related activities in Dupax Del Norte.
“We also reiterate our call to junk the Mining Act of 1995, a neoliberal law that has facilitated decades of foreign corporate plunder of the country’s mineral wealth at the expense of indigenous peoples, peasants, and rural communities. This law has brought nothing but environmental destruction, displacement, and violence to mining-affected communities,” Zarate said.
“Hanggang kailan pa ba pababayaan ng gobyerno na gawing negosyo ang ating likas na yaman habang ang mga mamamayan ay naghihirap at nag-aalsa para lang protektahan ang kanilang sariling lupain? The people of Dupax Del Norte deserve justice, not jail cells,” he ended. (ZIA LUNA)
