New case study documents unconsented exploration, contaminated rice fields, and a community’s fight to enforce a provincial mining moratorium. Narra, known as the “Rice Granary of Palawan,” sits on rich nickel laterite deposits that have drawn mining investment since the mid-2000s – and with it, mounting environmental, social, and governance concerns for the farmers, fisherfolk, and Indigenous Tagbanua communities who call it home.

A new case study by AIPNEE and NATRIPAL (Nagkakaisang Tribu ng Palawan) documents how Redmont Consolidated Mines Corporation has conducted active exploration – test pits spaced every 100 meters, debris, and land markers on Mounts Epes Bayoo and Buwaye – inside the ancestral domain of Indigenous Tagbanua communities in Barangay Princess Urduja, despite the community’s explicit refusal of consent during the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process. Redmont has denied conducting operations despite the physical evidence.

This is not the area’s first experience with mining harm. The Toronto Nickel Mine, operated since 2004 and now held by Citinickel Mines and Development Corporation (CMDC), has left a documented trail of impact: a 2012 silt spill contaminated the Pinagdugan River and affected 6.8 hectares of farmland, and recent testing found cobalt levels in nearby rice-farm topsoil three to seven times above normal. The Municipal Agricultural Office has identified over 100 hectares of rice fields rendered unproductive by nickel laterite inundation – losses that government agencies have yet to investigate.

A moratorium under pressure

In March 2025, the Palawan Provincial Board passed a 50-year extendable moratorium on new mining endorsements across the province. Yet in July 2025, the Narra Municipal Council endorsed Redmont’s application for zoning and environmental clearance – an endorsement that provincial board members and local activists argue conflicts with the moratorium’s intent. The Palawan Council for Sustainable Development has confirmed that Redmont has not even filed the required Strategic Environmental Plan Clearance, meaning its ongoing exploration activities in Princess Urduja violate both local and national law.

Communities stand united

Despite reported divide-and-conquer tactics during the FPIC process, including house-to-house signature campaigns and monetary offers to sway consent – the Barangay Council of Princess Urduja and surrounding communities remain united in opposition. They have organized two “Walk for Nature” rallies, launched a signature campaign, and passed a formal council resolution against open-pit mining. As one tribal elder from Purok Bethlehem put it: “We may not have lowland rice fields ourselves, but those who do will have them destroyed once mining begins… Even if we have sacks or piles of money at home, we cannot eat money – we still need to buy rice.”

The communities are calling for:

• An immediate halt to mining and related operations in Narra and across Palawan
• Enforcement of the province’s 50-year mining moratorium by concerned government agencies and LGUs
• International solidarity statements to pressure the Philippine government to protect Palawan’s critical ecosystems
• Support for legal aid, capacity-building, and corporate tracking research on Redmont and CMDC – particularly to identify their foreign investors for international accountability campaigns

Read the full case study here