Indigenous protesters block Benguet mine with vegetable trucks

BAGUIO CITY — Indigenous protesters in the Benguet mining town of Mankayan lined up vegetable delivery trucks along a road to block the entrance to Crescent Mining Development Corp. (CMDC) on Monday.

They wanted to prevent court officials, company employees, and police from serving them a writ of preliminary injunction against the year-long barricade at Barangay Bulalacao. 

Court officials brought the writ issued on August 20 by Regional Trial Court Judge Daniel Mangallay of Branch 64 in Abatan, Buguias. 

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In his 15-page resolution, Mangallay ordered protesters to “immediately remove all forms of barricades” along the Guinaoang-Colocol Road and barred them from preventing CMDC employees, vehicles, equipment, and machinery from entering and conducting drilling operations.

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READ: Court halts anti-mining roadblocks in Benguet

He also directed personnel of the Mankayan Municipal Police Station, the Philippine National Police’s 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company, and nearby police stations to assist the acting sheriff and CMDC employees in implementing the writ and, if warranted, arrest and file appropriate charges against those who defy the order.

But the court first required CMDC to post a P500,000 bond.

But residents of Bulalacao and neighboring Guinaoang refused to dismantle their barricade, which they have been maintaining since October 2025.

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The community first blocked CMDC’s drilling operations in June 2022 after the company’s Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) expired. They again barricaded the road in August 2025, thwarting the company’s attempt to bring in heavy equipment, before setting up another barricade in October that has since remained in place.

Residents say the barricade was their last resort to protect their farmlands, water sources and livelihood while their petitions against the mine remain pending before government agencies.

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They questioned the renewal of CMDC’s MPSA, saying it was granted without the required Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of affected indigenous communities.

READ: Court orders anti-mining protesters to explain alleged defiance

CMDC, however, maintains that its MPSA remains valid. The company says it complied with the FPIC process, which resulted in a memorandum of agreement with indigenous communities represented by their Council of Elders.

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As of press time, court officials and the police have pulled back from the standoff at noon while protesters attended Mass held at the protest site./coa