Pan Pacific Renewable Power Philippines Corp., a company engaged in building energy sources, intends to build two large hydropower plants – Gened 1 and 2 – which threaten to submerge communities in Kabugao, Apayao. Communities reported irregularities in the consent process and collusion among authorities and proponents, which allegedly led to the improper release of the permits for the two mega-dams.

The third and final set of Community Consultative Assembly is expected to be completed this month. But the indigenous peoples worry that the consultations are conducted simply to facilitate a process that had already been decided. 

Mining in Palawan has pitted indigenous peoples against tribal leaders who have allowed big companies to mine their ancestral lands. The mental anxiety and stress brought by these conflicts also have a cost. 

IN 2018 and early 2019, media freedom and the right to free expression came under sustained pressure in the Kingdom of Cambodia.