11/07/2026
Farmers in Mankayan are turning the tools of their livelihood into a wall of peaceful resistance. By parking their vegetable trucks across the road, the communities of Bulalacao and Guinaoang are blocking mining equipment from entering their ancestral lands without genuine consent.
ELF TRUCKS VS DRILLING MACHINE
No madi ti umili ah ket haan yu piman nga ipilit.
Farmers from the barangays of Bulalacao and Guinaoang in Mankayan demonstrated their determination to protect their ancestral land by using their vegetable trucks to block the passage of mining drilling equipment bound for Crescent Mining Development Corporation's proposed exploration sites.
The trucks were strategically parked along the road where residents have maintained a barricade, preventing the drilling equipment from reaching the proposed drill sites. The barricade remained in place on Friday, July 10, even as court officials served a 72-hour Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) directing the residents to stop picketing and blocking access.
The Indigenous communities have opposed the mining exploration project since 2022, arguing that it proceeded without their genuine Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), a right guaranteed to Indigenous Peoples under Philippine law. Residents also fear that the exploration could threaten their ancestral domain, water sources, and the farming livelihoods that have sustained generations of families.
For the people of Bulalacao and Guinaoang, the elf trucks symbolize more than just a means of livelihood. By positioning them across the road, farmers transformed the vehicles they rely on to transport their harvest into a peaceful barrier, reflecting their resolve to safeguard the land they cultivate and the future of their communities.
The standoff highlights the continuing conflict between resource development and the rights of Indigenous Peoples, as residents remain steadfast in defending what they consider their ancestral home and source of life.
Photo Courtesy || Habibi Igorota
