P770 million revenue from Pampanga quarrying seen

By George Trillo

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Revenue collections from the quarry operations in Pampanga is expected to reach P770 million before June, this year, as the provincial government is set to launch its computerized revenue collections, the governor said last week.

Gov. Lilia Pineda said she is set to sign the approval of the said computerization to maximize the income from the quarrying industry and its potential to provide more jobs to her constituents.

“This computerization will ensure that our collections will be seamless and fast,” she said.

The governor said that her administration aims to institutionalize the process of collections so that “people will benefit more on quarrying.”

Pineda said the system will not only make the quarry revenue collections more transparent, but also help the provincial government’s collections to double with computerization.

The Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office, headed by engineer Art Punsalan, has been pushing for the computerized revenue collections particularly for quarrying operations.

Punzalan said that his office can produce better results once the computerization comes to play.

“We believe that we can add more historic and record-breaking collections if we do it using a computerized system,” he said.

It was recalled that the provincial government posted a record of P650 million last year in quarry revenue collections.

Revenues in December 2012 were recorded at P19,145,000. “With the computerization, we are optimistic that we would get to our projection of P770 million when the term of Governor Pineda and Vice Governor Guiao end June this year,” said Punzalan.