Indigenous community fighting a mine in The Philippines wins a milestone legal verdict
A writ of kalikasan — a rare Philippine legal remedy reserved for environmental threats spanning multiple provinces — has halted nickel mining on the ancestral lands of the Pala’wan people in Brooke’s Point, Palawan. The August 2023 Supreme Court ruling protects Mount Mantalingahan, a 120,457-hectare sacred range and watershed for five municipalities, where roughly 80% of the mining concession sat inside the core protected zone. For the Pala’wan, who have refused consent since 2005, the decision arrived after years of being ignored by the agencies meant to protect them. Lawyers call it unprecedented, and believe it could open the courtroom door for other communities defending forests across Palawan and beyond.