BALDING MOUNTAIN In this photo taken in April this year, a part of Homonhon has become an open pit and barren due to mining operations on the island. 鈥擯HOTO COURTESY OF THE SAVE HOMONHON MOVEMENT
TACLOBAN CITY鈥擳he provincial government of Eastern Samar is asking payment from four mining companies on Homonhon Island off Guiuan town for unpaid real property taxes amounting to P133 million.
Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone said four companies鈥擟ambayas Mining Corp., Techiron Resources Inc., Emir Mineral Resources Corp., and Mt. Sinai Mining Exploration and Development Corp.鈥攚ere given demand letters for their failure to pay real property tax.
Failure to settle their obligations to the local government, he said, would result in the seizure of their properties and equipment.
Based on the data from the Eastern Samar provincial government, Cambayas Mining Corp. has a tax liability of P96.57 million from 2012 to 2016, while Techiron Resources Inc. has a tax obligation of P22.56 million from 2017 to 2022.
Emir Mineral Resources Corp. also has yet to pay P12.14 million in taxes from 2017 to 2022, while Mt. Sinai Mining Exploration and Development Corp. had an unpaid tax obligation of P2.58 million in 2013.
Evardone said these mining firms have been extracting chromite on Homonhon Island and should be subject to real property taxation under the Local Government Code of 1991, the manual on real property appraisal and assessment operations, and Provincial Ordinance No. 09-09 series of 2009.
Different obligation
The provincial government said that the amount of chromite extracted by the four companies from Homonhon was based on the ore transport permit (OTP) issued to them by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. OTP is a document that specifies the origin and destination as well as the quantity of unprocessed mineral ores or minerals needed for their transport.
Cambayas Mining Corp. was granted mining permits by the government in 2009; Techiron Resources Inc. in 2015; and Emir Mineral Resources Corp. and Mt. Sinai Mining Exploration and Development Corp. in 2010.
On top of complying with all the mining laws, especially on environmental and social protection, the governor said the mining firms should also pay taxes correctly to the local government.
鈥淭hese taxes on extracted minerals are different from taxes on machineries and equipment being used by mining companies. The province is still in the process of determining the assessed value of their tax liabilities on their machineries and equipment,鈥� Evardone said in an interview on Monday.
If these companies won鈥檛 comply with the demand letter, Evardone said the local government would be forced to levy or seize their properties as provided by law.
The Inquirer tried to get the statement of Emir Mineral Resources Corp. but was told that they won鈥檛 answer questions for now. The three other mining firms have yet to respond to the issue.
Historic significance
The four mining companies have been operating on Homonhon Island, a significant historic land for the Philippines, as it was where the expedition of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan landed on March 16, 1521.
The arrival of Magellan and the Spanish soldiers led to the Christianization of the Philippines.
The 20-kilometer-long island, which is prominent for its vast deposits of nickel and chromite, has been grappling with open-pit mining since the 1990s.
The Diocese of Borongan has been spearheading campaigns to preserve and protect the island鈥檚 remaining biodiversity.
According to Bishop Crispin Varquez, these mining operations posed immediate and negative effects on the communities and the natural environment.
Environmental groups and priests earlier appealed to authorities to stop the mining operations on Homonhon Island. The requests, however, fell on deaf ears.
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