What the future generations will inherit if we continue abusing and destroying what we have in the present?
The Philippines is a country rich beyond measure. Our wealth rises with our mountains, flows with our rivers, and breathes with our forests. This richness was never meant to be consumed in one generation. It is a trust, passed down from the past, borrowed by the present, and owed to the future. Yet today, these natural treasures, meant to be inherited by the future generations, are treated not as heritage, but as commodities—targets for profit by those who will never live with the damage they leave behind.
This reality became painfully clear in Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya.
On January 24, a community barricade in Barangay Bitnong was forcibly dismantled following the enforcement of a writ of preliminary injunction. Indigenous women and senior citizens were arrested; others required immediate medical attention. The people who stood their ground to protect their land were treated as lawbreakers—while corporate mining interests continued operations under the shield of legality. What was framed as "law enforcement" felt like the criminalization of environmental defense.
This is where the problem deepens.
An exploration permit, as reiterated by the courts and the Supreme Court, is not a license to mine, extract, or destroy the environment. It is a limited privilege, subject to strict environmental safeguards and state regulation. Yet despite this clear legal boundary, communities resisting potential ecological harm are met with force instead of consultation. The message becomes dangerously simple: compliance is expected from the poor, while violations by the powerful are treated as technicalities.
We are taught that Filipino values are anchored on being makatao and makakalikasan. But what unfolded in Dupax del Norte reflects neither. Arresting Indigenous women and elders defending ancestral land is not makatao. Silencing environmental concerns in favor of extractive interests is not makakalikasan. When the law is applied without compassion and context, it ceases to be a tool for justice and becomes an instrument of exclusion.
"To serve and protect" is a slogan authorities proudly repeat. But there is no service in violently dispersing communities. There is no protection in prioritizing corporate access over human dignity. When police power is used to dismantle barricades instead of safeguarding lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems, it stops being public service and becomes public harm.
Those who stand firm in protecting the natural richness we have are the ones immediately arrested. Meanwhile, those who manufacture lies and plunder the people’s money sit comfortably on gilded thrones, gripping their shining wands of power, posing as modern Roman gods—untouchable, unquestioned, and convinced they rule everything beneath them. Is this the system we want the future generations to inherit—rotten, sucks, and benefits only the powerful?
The people of Dupax del Norte stand firm not because they are stubborn, but because they are aware of what is at stake. They are not fighting development—they are resisting dispossession. They are not anti-progress—they are demanding a future where progress does not mean poisoned rivers, denuded mountains, and silenced communities.
This is the choice before us. We can continue down a path where land is sold faster than it can heal, where Indigenous voices are ignored, and where "development" benefits only a few. Or we can demand accountability—from corporations, from authorities, and from leaders who remain silent while communities bear the cost.
Let the statement of the late Ms. Gina Lopez echoes, "Who suffers if you kill the environment? It's the poor. And whose duty is it to protect our people? It's the government. And when you make decisions based on business interests, you have shirked your responsibility. You have lost the moral ascendancy to rule the government because, to you, business and money is more important than the welfare of our people."
IPAMANA, HUWAG IPAMINA!
Because what we allow to be destroyed in the present is exactly what future generations will never forgive us for failing to protect.
Written by John Benedict N. Banday, Insight PH
John Benedict N. Banday, Insight PH is a dedicated campus journalist and contributor. Their insightful writing sparks meaningful conversations and keeps the community informed.
