From August 2025 to March 2026, barricades and protests in Dupax del Norte in the northern Philippines blocked mining exploration activities by Woggle Corporation, a subsidiary of FCF Minerals Corporation and Metals Exploration plc. The protests, led by environmentalists under the name Dupax del Norte Environmental Defenders and the local Catholic diocese, are held in the province of Nueva Vizcaya, whose residents have long protested against the environmental impacts of mining. Nueva Vizcaya sits on numerous protected areas and watersheds, with the town of Dupax del Norte situated within the Dupax Watershed Forest Reserve. Woggle Corporation maintains that it secured the necessary requirements for its exploration permit issued by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), though local officials and residents dispute this, saying that no proper consultations took place—a requirement for the issuance of its exploration permit. Protestors also allege Woggle of illegally executing its exploration activities by uprooting trees without the necessary permits and trespassing.

Barricades in Dupax del Norte started on September 17, blocking Woggle's exploration in the area. Subsequently, Woggle requested a writ of preliminary injunction from the local courts, which was granted on October 10. As protestors refused to take down the barricades, the court ordered the police to take down the barricades and arrest protestors. Exploration then continued, until barricades were reinstalled. Local police hesitated to bring down the barricades until multiple orders were issued by the local court directing the police to enforce the writ. The police then dismantled the barricades and arrested protestors on January 23, 2026. On February 5, the MGB suspended Woggle's exploration permit under the grounds of force majeure. As a result, FCF Minerals Corporation decided to close down its existing Runruno mine by the end of 2026.

Environmental groups and lawmakers have supported the protestors, holding additional protests at the DENR main office in Quezon City. In February and March 2026, hearings were held at the Senate of the Philippines to investigate the alleged bypass of local government consultations. At the hearing, Woggle agreed to pull its equipment out of the exploration sites in Dupax del Norte. Woggle and environmentalists later reached an agreement to finally remove the equipment in May 2026, with removal completed in July 2026.

Background

Dupax del Norte is a town in the province of Nueva Vizcaya. It is north of Manila. The town sits partly within the Magat River Basin, which is a tributary to the Cagayan River. It is also within the Casecnan Protected Landscape that covers Casecnan River, another major tributary to the Cagayan River. The Dupax Watershed Forest Reserve was proclaimed as a forest reserve in August 1934 and was proposed to be included as a protected landscape under the NIPAS Act in 2000. Local science Advocates of Science and Technology for the People warns that mining in the town could affect these nearby protected areas. Across multiple towns in Nueva Vizcaya, ten areas fall under environmental protection. Communities in Nueva Vizcaya have long protested mining due to its potential threats to agriculture and the ecosystem, starting with the Didipio mine (operated by OceanaGold) which began operations in 1994. Mining operations in Didipio and Runruno have been blamed for water depletion, environmental damage, and societal conflict. 44% of Cagayan Valley's mineral resources are from Nueva Vizcaya. This includes limestone, manganese, gold, and copper.

Metals Exploration plc (MTL)—through its subsidiary, FCF Minerals Corporation—currently operates a gold and molybdenum mine in Quezon, Nueva Vizcaya. FCF was incorporated in 2001, and later became a subsidiary for London-based Metals Exploration plc in September 2005. Mining clearance for the Runruno Gold–Molybdenum Project was granted in 2011, following five years of exploration. Typhoon Koppu in 2015 suspended construction works in the mine from October 2015 to April 2016. It began operations in 2017, expecting an output of of gold yearly over 10 years of operation. Excise tax from the mine's operations have since brought Quezon from a fourth-class municipality (a municipality earning 90–130 million annually) to a first-class municipality (earning over million annually). As of 2025, FCF had contributed billion (US$ million) in taxes, fees, and duties since operations started in 2017. It also operates a social development program which supports welfare and infrastructure programs in the area. Prior to the protests, Quezon mayor Dolores Binwag called the Runruno project instrumental for improvements in local infrastructure. The Runruno mine will cease operations by the end of 2026.

Woggle Corporation, a subsidiary of FCF, announced that it had received an exploration permit from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for in Dupax del Norte on August 7, 2025, and immediately began geophysics surveys in the area. The exploration permit covers five barangays in Dupax del Norte: Bitnong, Inaban, Mungia, Parai, and Oyao. MTL planned to use the existing ore processing facilities in Runruno to handle ore found and mined in the new area. In a press release, Woggle also said that it had received a Certificate of Non-Overlap from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, which confirmed that there were no recognized indigenous cultural communities or ancestral domains within the exploration area.

2025

As a requirement for its exploration permit, Woggle requested a Certificate of Consultation from the council of Oyao, a barangay in Dupax del Norte. However, the Oyao council denied the request on August 25. Oyao barangay chairman Junior Taligan denied that a proper consultation had taken place, stating that a meeting held by Woggle on August 15, 2025, only being an "information and education campaign". Local officials and residents soon sent their complaints to the MGB, alleging violations of the Dupax del Norte mine's exploration permit, such as the uprooting of trees and trespassing. A resident also reported that Woggle had begun building a road up to a site in purok Keon in Bitnong. A pastoral letter by bishop Jose Elmer Mangalinao of the Diocese of Bayombong denounced the MGB's approval of Woggle's mining exploration permit. He also questions officials who backed the permit, urging for "transparency, accountability, and action from those in power." On August 18, the provincial board of Nueva Vizcaya adopted a resolution requesting that the MGB cancel Woggle Corporation's exploration permit for violations of environmental and procedural requirements. Two days later, the provincial board of Nueva Vizcaya voted to issue a Certificate of Consultation to Woggle following a briefing with the company, with only one member objecting.

Tim Cayton, the incumbent House representative of Nueva Vizcaya and former mayor of Dupax del Norte, also sent letters to the MGB on August 20 and 26, highlighting the lack of public consultations prior to the start of Woggle's exploration in the town. As a response, MGB Region II Director Mario Ancheta ordered an investigation into the complaints.

Woggle executives including general manager Lorne Harvey walked out of a community consultation on September 7 after refusing to listen to community leaders of barangay Mungia, who were protesting against their exploration project. In the meeting, president Roger Molina of the Mungia Multipurpose Farmers Cooperative said that Woggle focused on presenting business plans instead of responding to allegations of "illegal mining exploration". Woggle then held a public forum on the mining exploration at the Dupax del Norte Sports Complex on September 12. Florentino Daynos II, a local community leader of anti-mining groups, accused the forum of being one-sided, as it only allowed three people to speak against mining: Manganilao, and provincial board members Emerlene Jane Galanta-Martinez and Pablo Kindot. By the time the opposition was allowed to speak, several provincial officials including Cayton had already left. On the same day, the municipal board of Dupax del Norte voted unanimously to deny issuing Woggle a Certificate of Consultation.

Mass protests against mining in the province continued into September, joined by residents, religious leaders, lawyers, and advocates in Nueva Vizcaya. On September 17, residents of Bitnong set up barricades on private pathways to prevent mining equipment from entering the area. A resident also complained of mining equipment being left at a private lot without permission. Woggle Corporation then asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) and a writ of preliminary injunction against the barricades, saying that it was an illegal obstruction of a public road and the exploration permit given to them. On October 8, the League of Municipalities of the Philippines-Nueva Vizcaya Chapter passed a resolution expressing "strong" opposition to future plans of mining activities in the Province.

Judge Paul Attolba Jr. of the Regional Trial Court of Bambang (Branch 30) issued a TRO against the protestors on October 10. The TRO banned protestors from maintaining a barricade along the Keon barangay road, Bitnong, and the national highway. The TRO was then extended 20 days to October 30. After protesters refused to bring down their barricades, on October 16, Attolba ordered the Philippine National Police to arrest protestors who defied the TRO and to charge them with indirect contempt of court. Subsequently, the protestors clashed with the police on October 17 as they dismantled the barricades. Woggle continued exploration activities shortly after.

Protests continued on October 20 at the People's Hall of Dupax del Norte, where protestors called for intervention by elected officials. Environmental groups, indigenous peoples, and farmers protested in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) main office in Quezon City on October 21, with the Dupax mine as one of their agenda. The same day, Filipinos in the United Kingdom staged a protest in front of MTL headquarters in London. In November, Manganilao appealed to President Bongbong Marcos, asking him to intervene and halt mining operations in Nueva Vizcaya.

2026

Barricades continued into the new year. Originally five, only one barricade remained standing, located in Bitnong. On January 6, Attolba issued a resolution denying motions to lift the writ of preliminary injunction against the protests. Attolba ordered the writ's defendants, which included Daynos and other protest groups, to instead take the matter to the MGB's Panel of Arbitrators, immediately remove all barricades in Keon, and stop obstructing Woggle personnel and equipment. Locals had already filed an injunction suit against the exploration permit and a petition to cancel Woggle's permit before the MGB, with an intent to bring the suit to the Court of Appeals. Protestors continued their blockade on January 13. Defendants to the injunction were absent but the barricade remained defended by other residents. Edgardo Balgos, the lawyer for the protestors and former Nueva Vizcaya Board Member, requested a few days to convince the residents to leave the protest site, but Woggle refused. The Nueva Vizcaya Police Provincial Office (NVPPO) deployed 317 officers to the site, exercising maximum restraint given strong criticism following the earlier removal of a barricade in October. As a metal gate blocking the site was dismantled, protestors continued to block access to the road, sang Pilipinas Kong Mahal () and the provincial hymn in Ilocano, and held a prayer.