Kibungan
More actions
| Kibungan | |
|---|---|
| ActiveCannabis last recorded here in 2026 | |
| |
| Rice fields and an irrigated valley below steep slopes in Kibungan, Benguet | |
| Hierarchy | |
| Growing Region | Cordillera Central |
| Geography | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Province/State | Benguet |
| Municipalities | Kibungan, Bakun, Sugpon |
| Coordinates | 16.71, 120.62 |
| Landscape | |
| Terrain | Mountains |
| Growing history | |
| Dated news reports | 2025–2026 |
| Documentation | |
| Appellations | 0 |
| Accessions | 2 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | none documented yet |
Kibungan is a landrace cannabis growing area in the mountains of Kibungan municipality in Benguet and of neighbouring barangays in Bakun (Benguet) and Sugpon (Ilocos Sur), in northern Luzon, Philippines. Police and drug-enforcement agents have destroyed plantations along the disputed boundary between Kibungan and Sugpon since 2017.[1] Plantations have been destroyed at Barangay Tacadang in Kibungan, at Licungan and Caoayan in Sugpon and at Kayapa in Bakun.[2][3][4]
Geography
The municipality of Kibungan has a land area of about 255 square kilometres in seven barangays. The 2020 census counted 17,051 inhabitants.[5] Barangay Tacadang had 1,656 inhabitants in 2020. The elevation at its coordinates is estimated at about 1,590 metres.[6] Kayapa, a barangay of Bakun, had 1,468 inhabitants, and the elevation at its coordinates is estimated at about 1,080 metres.[7] The seed seller The Landrace Team puts its Kibungan line at 1,700 metres.[8]
In 2017 plantations were destroyed on Mount Baukok and Mount Natiktikan, and in 2026 on Mount Teba in Licungan, all of them on the disputed boundary.[1][9] The mountains are generally hard to reach, with semi-temperate weather that a 2017 report called conducive to cannabis cultivation.[1]
The provincial boundary through these mountains is disputed. In September 2026 the mayor of Sugpon, Daniel Lano Jr., named conflicting claims around the Kibungan barangays of Badeo and Tacadang and around Sitio Culliang in Tacadang. He said that some maps place these areas under Licungan in Sugpon while their residents identify with Benguet, and that cases could be dismissed where the location of a plantation was in dispute. He called for joint boundary management and mapping by the two provinces and the environment department, and for clarity on the status of the forest land where plantations had been found, since its public-land status made the growers hard to identify.[10]
Cultivation
In January 2021 police uprooted about 13,200 fully grown plants and 300 seedlings on nearly 2,650 square metres.[11] In January 2023 they found 20,500 plants on a combined 3,280 square metres at the borders of Sitio Nagawa in Caoayan and Sitio Culiang in Tacadang.[3] In September 2026 a plantation between Licungan and Tacadang covered about 1,760 square metres with 10,960 plants, three sites at Sitio Nagawa held 5,200 plants on 550 square metres, and a plantation at Sitio Ogiyet in Licungan held about 3,000 plants on about 1,000 square metres.[2][12][13] The four plantations on Mount Teba in late August 2026 held about 4,000 seedlings and 660 mature plants, and the site at Sitio Lubban in Kayapa in October 2026 about 2,500 seedlings.[9][4]
The Cordillera regional police director said in February 2026 that the region's plantations were not large and were hidden under foliage, and that officers hiked six to eight hours to reach them. He said that the crop was made into bricks or tubes and carried down to the lowlands, and that there were many exits from Benguet, including on foot from the tri-boundary of La Union, Ilocos and Benguet. He put the price at ₱10,000 a kilogram in the region and up to ₱25,000 elsewhere in the country.[14]
Two seed sellers name lines for the municipality. The Landrace Team sells a Kibungan line, in which it has observed five phenotypes.[8] Khalifa Genetics sells a Filipino Kibungan, saying that "a local Filipino grower offered us" the seed, and ACE Seeds, which stocks it, places its origin at Kibungan.[15][16]
Enforcement
On 19 and 20 November 2017 police and agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency burned plants from seven plantation sites on Mount Baukok and Mount Natiktikan, worth an estimated ₱5.2 million, and 50 kilograms of dried stalks and fruiting tops. Kibungan and Sugpon were then on the agency's watchlist.[1] The Ilocos regional police director said after the January 2023 operation that the plantation's cultivators had been identified.[3]
Between January and April 2026 Benguet police reported about 1,180,130 fully grown plants eradicated in Kibungan, 94,765 in Kapangan and 224,850 in Bakun.[17] In February the Benguet provincial police began Oplan Ultimate Grass Cutter in five barangays, three in Kibungan and one each in Bakun and Kapangan. It paired eradication, arrests and prosecutions with community work and livelihood help from other agencies, and was to run for at least a year before an assessment that could recommend charges against officials whose areas were repeatedly raided. The provincial police had seized or destroyed 315,693 plants and seedlings between 16 January and 26 February 2026. Their spokesman said that they wanted to "erase that identity of our province" as a source of marijuana.[18]
On the Ilocos Sur side, provincial police destroyed the Mount Teba plantations on 29 August 2026 under Oplan Deicesais 2026. No cultivator was arrested.[9] On 10 and 11 September the drug enforcement agency and the police destroyed the plantation between Licungan and Tacadang. They arrested no one, and said that charges for cultivation under section 16 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 would be filed against unidentified cultivators while ownership of the land was checked.[2]
The Sugpon mayor alleged in September 2026 that organised groups with financial resources and connections supported the cultivation in the disputed areas. He said that enforcement should target the syndicates rather than ordinary farmers.[10] The Cordillera police director had said in February that several syndicates appeared to be involved, with financiers who supplied capital and bought the crop.[14]
Alternative development
The Dangerous Drugs Board funded sericulture in Kapangan, Kibungan and Bakun from 2008.[19] In 2026 it asked the Cordillera Regional Development Council to prioritise farm-to-market roads, tourism access roads and irrigation for the three municipalities as "Alternative Development Sites".[20] The Board paired Oplan Ultimate Grass Cutter with proposals for livelihood, tourism and infrastructure support.[17][21] The Sugpon mayor asked the national government to prioritise roads in the disputed and remote areas.[10]
Accessions
| Accession ID | Name | Collected | Locality |
|---|---|---|---|
| KHA-PHL-UNK-0120210001 | Filipino Kibungan 2021 | ||
| TLT-PHL-BEN-0120220001 | Kibungan 2022 |
Conservation status
Recent news
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lapniten, K. (21 November 2017). "Authorities torch P11-M marijuana in Benguet-Ilocos boundary". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Tabin, K.P. (13 September 2026). "P2.19-M marijuana plants uprooted along Ilocos Sur-Benguet border". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mugas, J.M. (20 January 2023). "P4.7 million worth of marijuana plants destroyed in Ilocos Sur and Benguet". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Matayew, M. (3 October 2026). "P100,000 worth of marijuana seedlings uprooted in Benguet". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ "Kibungan, Province of Benguet". PhilAtlas. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ "Tacadang, Municipality of Kibungan, Province of Benguet". PhilAtlas. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ "Kayapa, Municipality of Bakun, Province of Benguet". PhilAtlas. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Kibungan (Philippines)". The Landrace Team. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Tabin, K.P. (30 August 2026). "Over P200,000 marijuana plants discovered in Ilocos Sur". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Tabin, K.P. (14 September 2026). "Ilocos Sur mayor seeks border clarity on suspected marijuana farms". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ Sotelo, Y. (12 January 2021). "P2.7M in marijuana plants, seeds burned on plantation at Ilocos Sur, Benguet boundary". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ Tabin, K.P. (11 September 2026). "5,200 marijuana plants destroyed in Ilocos Sur". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ Dawang, J. (28 September 2026). "P600,000 worth of marijuana plants uprooted in Ilocos Sur". Daily Tribune. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Sigales, J. (20 February 2026). "Syndicates eyed in Cordillera marijuana plantations". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ "Filipino Kibungan". Khalifa Genetics. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2026.
- ↑ "Filipinas Kibungan Regular". ACE Seeds (in español). Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Dangerous Drugs Board (2026). Board Resolution No. 6, Series of 2026: A Resolution Requesting the Cordillera Regional Peace and Order Council for Support for the Sustainability of Marijuana Eradication Efforts in the Municipalities of Kibungan, Kapangan and Bakun in the Province of Benguet (PDF) (Report). Dangerous Drugs Board. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ Agoot, L. (25 February 2026). "'Oplan Ultimate Grass Cutter' aims to curb Benguet's marijuana menace". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Philippine News Agency. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ Dangerous Drugs Board (2016). Dimaculangan, E.M.L. (ed.). Annual Report 2016 (PDF) (Report). Dangerous Drugs Board. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ Dangerous Drugs Board (2026). Board Resolution No. 5, Series of 2026: A Resolution Requesting for the Support of the Regional Development Council Cordillera Administrative Region for the Infrastructure Requirements of the Municipalities of Kibungan, Kapangan, and Bakun as Alternative Development Sites Following Successful Marijuana Eradication Activities (PDF) (Report). Dangerous Drugs Board. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ "DDB, Benguet PPO, and local governments push alternative livelihoods alongside OPLAN "Ultimate Grasscutter 2026"". Dangerous Drugs Board. 25 May 2026. Retrieved 3 October 2026.