Kabataan Rep. Renee Louise Co and Gabriela Rep. Sarah Elago on Thursday sought an inquiry into the alleged illegal mining activities by a UK-based firm in Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya, which saw violent arrests of community members protesting against the project.
The Makabayan lawmakers filed a resolution urging the House committee on natural resources to investigate alleged anomalies and, if possible, suspend the mining activities of Woggle Corp. and all other extractive activities in the area.
They asked the committee, headed by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Maranon III, to look into the circumstances under which Woggle Corp. was issued an exploration permit by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Mining and Geosciences Bureau on Aug. 7, 2025, and whether the company conducted proper consultations and obtained informed consent from the affected communities.
In seeking an inquiry, the two Makabayan lawmakers emphasized that the residents ‘repeatedly and unequivocally expressed their opposition to destructive mining operations, have documented violations of permit conditions and environmental laws, and have exercised their constitutional rights to peaceful assembly and petition for redress of grievances.’
However, ‘their voices have been ignored, their rights violated, and their communities subjected to state violence,’ they said in their resolution.
Woggle, a subsidiary of London-based FCF Minerals Corp., was granted an exploration permit covering approximately 3,100 hectares in Dupax del Norte for the exploration of gold and copper deposits.
Since then, several local governments in the province, including the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Nueva Vizcaya and the Sangguniang Barangay of Barangays Oyao, Bitnong, Inaban, and Munguia, adopted resolutions opposing the project, citing a lack of genuine public consultations and consent from the communities, as well as Woggle’s alleged failure to comply with environmental safeguards.
In protest, the residents erected barricades on access roads leading to the site, prompting Woggle to seek a temporary restraining order (TRO).
On Oct. 10, a Bayombong regional trial court granted Woggle’s petition and, on Oct. 16, directed the Philippine National Police to enforce the TRO and to arrest individuals resisting arrest, citing ‘hostile acts and resistance of the persons maintaining a barricade at the road going to the exploration site.’
The TRO, which would be in effect until Oct. 30, resulted in reports of violent dispersals and the use of excessive force against civilians and indigenous peoples.
This situation, Co and Elago said, ‘is emblematic of a broader pattern of environmental plunder, displacement of indigenous peoples and rural communities, and collusion between government agencies and foreign mining corporations that prioritize profit over people, environmental sustainability, and national patrimony.’
Last Monday, Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima also filed a similar resolution, citing the ‘pressing need for the House of Representatives to exercise its oversight and legislative functions’ to ascertain whether Woggle’s activities in the region complied with the law.
‘These cannot be ignored or set aside in any agreement entered into by the government. No amount of income or so-called development can compensate for the lives and livelihoods of the affected communities that are at risk due to illegal mining,’ De Lima said in filing HR 413.