PRESS RELEASE | MANKAYAN COMMUNITY PROTESTS AGAINST THE FRAUDULENT RENEWAL OF CRESCENT MINING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION`S MPSA
August 28, 2025
BAGUIO CITY – The community of Brgy. Bulalacao, Mankayan, Benguet condemns the renewal of Crescent Mining and Development Corporations` (CMDC) Mineral Production Sharing Agreement 057-96-CAR (MPSA 057-96-CAR) covering 534 hectares of their ancestral domain without undergoing the mandatory Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) process, as required by the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA). On top of that, an estimated 300 hectares of additional area is likely to be required outside MPSA 057-96-CAR for other mine facilities. This threatens more than 600 families whose gardening livelihood depends within the ancestral domain.
MORE ON THE ISSUE:
On November 12, 2021, CMDC’s MPSA expired. By law, specifically Section 59 of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), Section 16 of the Philippine Mining Act, and NCIP Administrative Order No. 3, Series of 2012, all mining operations should have ceased, unless and until, a genuine FPIC process was completed and a Certification Precondition (CP) issued.
However, on December 9, 2021, then NCIP-CAR Regional Director Atty. Atanacio Addog overstepped his authority by deciding for the ICCs/IPs and issued a so-called “Certification” which the Mines and Geosciences Bureau – Cordillera Administrative Region (MGB-CAR) used to grant the renewal of CMDC`s MPSA. The “December Certification” is nothing but a fraud document and should not be a substitute of Certificate of Precondition (CP) and FPIC.
Because of this fraudulent renewal, CMDC continued its drilling activities in the Mankayan Ancestral Domain. In June 2022, the ICCs/IPs were forced to mount a barricade to stop the operations.
Worse, NCIP-CAR Regional Director Atty. Roland Calde branded Barangay Bulalacao IPMR Marlo Pablo as “leftist” and Barangay Bulalacao Punong Barangay Satur Lostbayan Anton as a disgruntled former employee of the corporation. Their office did not address the core illegality of the issue. Such attacks were purposely architected deflect the attention from the real issue and undermined the leadership of duly elected representatives of the ICCs/IPs. This also has disrupted the harmony of the community.
CALLS OF THE ICCS/IPS OF MANKAYAN:
For the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to void the renewal of MPSA 057-96-CAR for being contrary to laws and jurisprudence
For the NCIP Commission En Banc to deny the issuance of the Certification Precondition (CP) to CMDC for being contrary to Section 59 of IPRA, Section 16 of the Mining Act, NCIP Administrative Order No. 3, Series of 2012, and the Supreme Court ruling in Cosalan vs. Lepanto.
For the NCIP Commission En Banc to sanction former NCIP-CAR Regional Director Atty. Atanacio Addog for issuing the December 2021 Certification.
For the NCIP Commission En Banc to sanction current NCIP-CAR Regional Director Atty. Roland Calde for red-tagging and maligning the opposition in order to evade review of the illegal renewal.
Reference:
Marlo D. Pablo
Brgy. IP Representative
Brgy. Bulalacao, Manlayan