A Philippine legal and policy group warned that the government’s new critical minerals policy could accelerate mining across 9 million hectares, including areas that may overlap ancestral domains, while linking mineral development to national defense supply chains.
The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, or LRC, said Executive Order No. 122 could sharply expand areas opened to mineral exploration and reservations while streamlining permitting procedures affecting Indigenous communities.
“EO 122 opens up nine million hectares of prospective mineral areas to mining exploration, reservation, and ‘one-stop shop’ fast tracking. This represents a potential 1,000% increase of mining land area compared to the present total hectarage of approved mining projects,” said E.M. Taqueban, LRC executive director.
The group said the 9 million hectares identified as having high mineral potential are more than 11 times the country’s existing mining area of 813,575 hectares.
LRC also raised concern over the order’s inclusion of minerals considered essential to national defense, digital infrastructure and advanced manufacturing among those prioritized for state-led exploration and new mineral reservation areas.
“Particularly concerning is the inclusion of minerals critical for ‘National Defense’, alongside digital infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, in the establishment of a national exploration and mineral reservation program,” Taqueban said.
“This squarely frames our critical minerals policy within the Pax Silica framework, and confirms suspicions of the intent to link domestic mining and minerals processing to the ‘war production’ value chain,” he said.
Citing its 2025 Report on the State of Indigenous Address, LRC said at least 424,830 hectares, or 54% of the country’s existing mining area, potentially overlaps ancestral domains.
The group also questioned provisions creating a Virtual One-Stop Shop that would streamline permitting and allow permits and clearances to be processed simultaneously.
“The shift away from sequential to simultaneous regulatory procedures and permitting processes means FPIC processes and prior public consultations will likely happen without being informed by a prior environmental impact assessment,” Taqueban said.
LRC urged Congress to prioritize House Bill No. 1852, or the Alternative Minerals Management Bill, before pursuing large-scale expansion of critical minerals development.
