Philex gives P306 M to indigenous people

TUBA, Benguet – Indigenous cultural communities hosting the operation of the Philex Mining Corp, here received over P306 million as royalty from the operation of the company’s copper and gold mine in Padcal here over the past two years.

Philex officials said the symbiotic relationship between the mine firm and its host communities here is an illustration of the success of mining in the country because of the existence of appropriate channels of communication to solve conflicts arising from issues and concerns relative to the conduct of the environmentally critical activity.

Based on available records, the Indigenous Peoples Organization of Alang, Pukis, Sabian, Sta. Fe, Oliba and Luacan (IPO-APSSOL), a duly recognized indigenous peoples organization by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in the Cordillera, received their first taste of royalty in 2008 after the signing of a multipartite memorandum of agreement to the tune of a little over P142 million purposely for community development projects.

Last year, the organization received over P164 million representing their 1.25 percent share from the net income of the mine firm’s operation as their royalty pursuant to the agreement signed sometime in 2008.

For this year, the IPO-APSSOL started receiving their royalty on a monthly basis but figures have yet to be released considering the conduct of required auditing and accounting to ascertain their real share from the mine firm’s operations.

Lawyer Eduardo Aratas, chief of Philex’s legal division, explained the royalty of the indigenous peoples will be utilized by the organization to implement their desired community development projects in order to help increase economic activities in the far flung communities so that people will be able to enjoy the fruits of their ancestral domain as well as establish a healthy living environment for the present and future generations of their siblings.

Apart from the royalty share of the organization, Philex is also implementing social development projects in their areas of operation, particularly infrastructure, education, environment, health, livelihood among others, pursuant to its corporate social responsibility.

Because of the grant of the royalty share of indigenous peoples affected by the mining operation, substantial development could now be achieved in the rural areas considering that they are the ones handling the huge amount of money supposedly utilized for the upliftment of their living condition and the development of their own communities.

Based on the agreement, IPO-APSSOL will be entitled to 1.25 percent royalty from Philex’s continuous operations and that the same will be directly given to the organization to be utilized for community development projects in exchange for the expansion of the company’s operation to the 98-hectar subsidence area within their communities as contained in the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA).

The group will continue to enjoy the royalty for a period of 25 years or during the lifespan of the mining operations in their area. -- Dexter A. See