Tuba, Itogon settle rift on P200M Philex tax

By Dexter A. See

TUBA, Benguet  – Local officials of the two municipalities hosting the operations of the Philex Mining Corp. agreed to have a common stand in relation to P200 million compromise business tax payment that will be equally divided between the towns of Tuba and Itogon.

Tuba councilor Ignacio Rivera said municipal officials of Itogon and Tuba are now united in their stand on how to apportion their respective P100 million share from the compromise tax payment which the country’s largest gold and copper producer is willing to pay them.

            “50 percent of each of the town’s share will be given in cash while the remaining 50 percent will be used to fund priority projects of the concerned local governments,” Rivera said.

            According to Rivera, the P50 million cash for each municipal government will be turned over to the concerned municipal treasurer of Itogon and Tuba during the scheduled signing of the memorandum of agreement for the compromise business tax payment while the P50 million balance for each municipality will be used to fund their respective priority projects upon the submission of their approved list of projects and programs of work.

            Rivera disclosed the signing of the memorandum of agreement on the compromise business tax payment was scheduled before the end of this month to end the10-year conflict on where Philex should pay its business taxes.

            Philex was billed a total of P2.2 billion by the host municipal governments for accumulated unpaid business taxes since 2002 but the company declined to pay the aforesaid amount since part of their areas of operation is the subject of a boundary dispute between Itogon and Tuba over the past several decades.

            However, local officials of the two contending municipalities agreed to equally divide the business tax payment of the company during the pendency of the boundary dispute so funds could be utilized to fund priority projects of the towns and enhance delivery of services to the people.

            “We have to maximize the utilization of the funds which will be paid by the company so that we will be able to bring development to the remote communities of our respective areas of jurisdiction, Rivera said.

            Lawyer Eduardo M. Aratas, Philex’s legal and administrative head, welcomed the decision of local officials of the two host municipalities to have a unified stand on the apportionment of their respective share from the compromise tax payment, saying that the agreed sharing and apportionment only shows the unity and teamwork of the municipal officials in deciding for the welfare of their constituents.

            Earlier, Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan and Tuba Mayor Florencio Bentres announced Philex should pay to host municipalities their P100 million with P75 million supposed to be in cash and the P25 million in the form of projects which was a clear deviation from the internal arrangements made by the concerned local officials that 50 percent of their respective share should be paid in cash while the remaining 50 percent will be earmarked to fund priority projects of the concerned locality.