We stand in firm and prayerful solidarity with the people of Dupax Del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya, who continue to defend their land, livelihood, and dignity amid mounting pressure to give way to the entry of Woggle Corporation.
In moments such as this, we return to a foundational truth of our faith, expressed in Dilexi Te: faith begins not with power or privilege, but with love. “I have loved you,” the Lord says to a people with little protection and little voice. The families guarding the barricade in Bitnong stand in that place today. Their struggle must be heard—not silenced.
The people’s barricade is not an act of disorder. It is the response of communities excluded from decisions that shape their lives, born from the absence of genuine consultation, and from the painful experience of having their land and future treated as expendable.
When development is evoked, we must ask: Who is missing at the table?
In Dupax Del Norte, three seats remain empty.
The first belongs to the Poor – peasant families and rural communities whose voices were sidelined and who now face intimidation, force, and legal pressure in defense of their livelihoods that have been subordinated to corporate interests.
The second belongs to Our Common Home – where trees were uprooted without permission, and land and water face irreversible harm, treated as resources to be extracted rather than gifts to be protected.
The third belongs to the Next Generation – those bound to the long-term consequences of decisions made today for short-term gains. Children today and those yet unborn will eventually bear the cost of this environmental damage and social disruption.
Any decision that excludes these three is not merely incomplete; it is unjust.
We are deeply troubled by credible reports of harassment, arrests, and violent dispersal of residents engaged in peaceful resistance. The deployment of armed personnel to enforce corporate entry raises grave moral questions. Laws that protect profit while endangering communities may be legal, but they cannot claim moral legitimacy.
Dupax Del Norte reveals a familiar pattern: rural communities bear the cost of development they did not choose. When power is used to silence the dissent rather than protect life, development loses human meaning.
As Church, we are called to stand where life is threatened. Silence in the face of such suffering is not neutrality; it is complicity.
We therefore support and echo the call of the Diocese of Bayombong for an immediate halt to Woggle Corporation’s exploration activities and for the issuance of a cease-and-desist order to prevent further harm and escalation of conflict.
We call on the national government to cancel Woggle Corporation’s permits and to review policies that repeatedly place communities in harm’s way. Development that displaces, divides, and destroys is not authentic development.
This further deepens inequality and normalizes injustice.
To the people of Dupax Del Norte, we say: you are not alone. They may dismantle barricades, but your rights remain. Though you may be few, your moral strength is great. Justice does not begin with permits, but with people.
We urge the faithful, civil society, and all people of goodwill to remain vigilant and in solidarity.
This is a shared moral responsibility.
May the God who says, “I have loved you,” strengthen all who defend life, land, and dignity. And may we never again make decisions without first ensuring that the Poor, Our Common Home, and the Next Generation are given their rightful place at the table.
(Sgd.)
+ Most Rev. Gerardo A. Alminaza, D.D
Bishop of San Carlos
President, Caritas Philippines