QUEZON CITY (MindaNews/ November 4) — Nickel mining operations in Dinagat Islands and Surigao del Sur in the Caraga Region are causing environmental destruction and alleged human rights violations, according to a report released Tuesday, November 4, by Climate Rights International (CRI).
The 106-page publication, “Broken Promises: Philippines Nickel Mining Causes Rights Abuses and Increases Climate Vulnerability,” is based on field research conducted between January and October 2025.
CRI said it interviewed 57 residents and workers in mining-affected communities across Dinagat Islands and Surigao del Sur, alongside civil society groups, church leaders, journalists, and local government officials.
The group noted that residents experienced pollution of water sources, deforestation, mangrove loss, farmland siltation, decline in marine resources, and increased exposure to climate-related hazards.
“Nickel is important for the transition to renewable energy, but in the Philippines nickel mining is destroying fishing and farming livelihoods, creating food insecurity, and causing noxious pollution of drinking water,” said Krista Shennum, researcher at CRI in a press release.
Sonia, whose surname was not disclosed in the report, a 54-year-old fisherwoman from Barangay Malinao in Tubajon, Dinagat Island, said mud and silt from mining operations have pushed local fishers farther out to sea.
“We used to catch about 20 kg of fish per day and wouldn’t have to go far. Now, mining pollutes the ocean. It’s more dangerous to fish because we have to go out farther to sea, around 3 or 4 hours. My husband will leave at 3 or 4 a.m. and come home around 5 p.m. Sometimes he doesn’t catch enough fish to cover the fuel costs, which can be 70 to 85 pesos,” Sonia said.
CRI also documented accounts of land grabbing, loss of livelihood, threats, attacks, and criminalization of residents and defenders opposing mining activities.
Vicente Cirilo Iriberri, General Manager of the Cantilan Water District and a long-time anti-mining advocate from Surigao del Sur, said legal retaliation against environmental defenders continues.
“Those of us leading the struggle against mining also faced cases. But these were mainly harassment cases, the type known as Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation [SLAPP]… These were clearly harassment suits meant to silence us and stop us from pushing forward. But we did not back down,” Iriberri said.
TRANSITION MINERALS
During the launch of the report, Shennum underscored the Philippines’ critical role in the global green transition, noting that the country is the second-largest producer of nickel and the world’s top exporter of raw nickel ore, a key material used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries and energy storage systems.
The Philippines exports most of its nickel in raw form and processes very little domestically. More than 90 percent of the country’s nickel ore exports are shipped to China, the report noted.
Caraga remains the center of the country’s nickel industry, accounting for around 60% of national nickel output in 2023.
Data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) show that 7.29% of the region’s land area is covered by approved mining tenements, the highest in the Philippines.
Surigao del Sur hosts six active nickel mines covering 17,614.25 hectares, while Dinagat Islands has ten active operations spanning 24,221 hectares.
Alyansa Tigil Mina National Coordinator Jaybee Garganera stressed the need to continue documenting the social and environmental impacts of nickel mining, especially as the world accelerates its shift to renewable energy.
“This is something that is very important for us. Precisely because we needed a continuing documentation and evidence of how the communities that are affected by nickel mining are part of those sacrifice zones that are being created to satisfy the requirement for additional transition minerals,” Garganera said.
CRI urged the Philippine government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to halt new nickel mining permits until companies comply with domestic and international human rights and environmental standards, including proper waste management and community protections.
The organization also called on electric vehicle and battery companies that directly or indirectly source nickel from the Philippines to use their leverage to ensure suppliers end and remedy rights abuses, clean up water and air pollution, and protect the rights of environmental and human rights defenders.
“Electric vehicle and battery companies have unique leverage to demand that the mining industry cleans up its act… If EV companies want to position themselves as global leaders in the fight against climate change, they must demand that mining companies in their supply chains respect the rights of communities and end environmentally destructive practices,” Shennum said.
Shennum disclosed that they sought to give relevant government agencies and companies the opportunity to provide input. About a month before the report’s release, CRI wrote to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the MGB at both the national and Caraga regional offices, the Department of Labor and Employment, and almost 10 mining companies named in the report but only one mining company responded.
“I think it sends a clear signal that, you know, civil society organizations, independent organizations are writing, seeking very basic information and yet not receiving responses,” Shennum said.
CRI is an international non-government organization based in the United States that conducts on-the-ground investigations into the human rights consequences of climate change. (Ivy Marie Mangadlao/MindaNews)
