by NICK ASPINWALL
“It’s very ironic that, in order to mitigate the impact of global warming, you have to cut down our trees … just to support the initiatives of Elon Musk.”
- The Philippine islands of Sibuyan and Palawan are under threat from the global mining frenzy for nickel, inhabitants say. The archipelago is one of the most mineral-rich countries in the world, with only 5% of those reserves explored.
- Angry islanders are defending their homes, with protests and clashes spreading over the months of 2023.
The small, crescent-shaped island of Sibuyan sits at the dead center of the Philippine archipelago. Venturing there from Manila is a 15-hour journey by bus and ferry, which keeps most vacationers away from its glistening sandbars and unspoiled old-growth forests. The water from all its 36 rivers and streams is drinkable, locals say; it has never been connected to any other landmass, preserving unique plant and animal life. Natural scientists have called it the “Galapagos of Asia.”
But Sibuyan’s isolation hasn’t kept everyone at bay. It’s also home to an estimated seven million metric tons of nickelreserves, locked in the ground belowthe verdant Mount Guiting-Guiting in San Fernando municipality. The ore was the basis of a clash that went viral this February, when a weekslong protest by a crowd of villagers exploded into conflict. At the base of the mountain, villagers spread tarpaulins and erected tents and bamboo huts, facing off against trucks belonging to Altai Philippines Mining Corporation.
In a video that blazed through social media and nightly news, 63-year-old Fernando Uy Marin, wearing a white T-shirt and flip-flops, threw himself in front of a truck, hanging on for dear life. He fell and grabbed onto another truck, but was quickly pulled off by five police officers as the giant vehicles rumbled past.
“I just wanted to hold on,” the soft-spoken Marin told Rest of World in March, outside the Sibuyan guesthouse he manages. “To show the world that we need some help out here, just to protect our island. That’s the only thing I had in mind.”
In the Philippines, rich landscapes like that of Sibuyan are threatened by the frenzied global rush for nickel, used for electric car batteries, solar panels and other key components driving the transition to clean energy. Local resistance is mounting, even as the mining-friendly Marcos government readies lucrative new extractive taxes and expects to approve more mining sites.
The Philippines is touted as one of the most mineral-rich countries in the world, with only 5% of those reserves explored and 3% covered by mining contracts. The country’s nickel production levels are second only to those of Indonesia.
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