All mines that give

The country’s biggest gold and copper producer, Philex Mining Corp., paid the municipality of Itogon in Benguet close to P30 million in real property tax (RPT), covering a five-year period for a proposed tailings storage facility in the host barangay of Ampucao. According to Philex president Euls Austin, the company has consistently helped in building up communities and in contributing to nation building through its tax payments.

Itogon mayor Victorio Palangdan said Philex has been religious in paying taxes, adding the miner’s numerous social and environmental projects have benefited residents. About 50 percent of the real property tax or P15 million will be allocated for the mandated Special Education Fund (SEF), which will be equally divided between the municipality of Itogon and the provincial government of Benguet.

The SEF will be used to build  classrooms and other facilities as well as pay for the salary of teachers. In fact, the total amount is more than enough to build 10 classrooms that could each accommodate as many as 50 pupils and pay for the salaries of 200 government employees for four months, according to a company official.

The fact is, Philex happens to be one of the top taxpayers in the mining industry, having contributed to government coffers more than P10 billion in regular and mining-related taxes between 2011 and 2015. The company’s lone operating mine in Padcal located in Tuba, Benguet, has paid P6.6 billion or 100 percent of required regular taxes and another P3.5 billion in mining-related taxes since 2011.

At the check turnover for the P29.8 million RPT, Padcal resident manager Manuel Agcaoili reiterated Philex’s continuing commitment to responsible mining by fulfilling its tax obligations to both local and national governments. Philex has also spent hundreds of millions for various programs in the area of education, environmental protection, public infrastructure and livelihood for residents in host and neighboring communities.

Itogon and Tuba are two of the four first-class communities in Benguet, and long-time residents said the mining company has made significant contributions in the progress and development of their communities. Philex Mining accounted for P131.5 million or more than 45 percent of Itogon’s revenues for 2014-2015.

At the recent mining conference initiated by the Albert del Rosario Institute and Stratbase, executives of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) expressed optimism that the government’s planned massive infrastructure program would help spur investments in mining and boost the industry’s potential to fully contribute to the country’s economic development. According to the National Economic Development Authority, the government has outlined a roadmap for the mining industry to assess how improvements could be made to help maximize the industry’s contributions to the economy.

Donald Trump ‘clones’

The “anti-establishment” fever seems to have caught up in Brazil, judging from the election results in of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Joao Doria – dubbed as the “Brazilian Donald Trump” because he is a successful businessman, a former host of “The Apprentice Brazil” and is considered a political outsider like the US president-elect – was recently sworn in as mayor of Sao Paulo after soundly defeating the incumbent mayor and the ally of Brazilian president Michel Temer.

Apparently, the people of Sao Paulo – the biggest city and the financial capital of Brazil – have grown tired of politics as usual, with corruption among the biggest issues in the recently concluded elections. The biggest casualty was the Workers Party of former president Dilma Rousseff who was impeached last August for corruption. Even in the poorest neighborhoods of the city – where the disparity between the rich and the poor is most pronounced by the fact that businessmen regularly travel by choppers, while the marginalized live in makeshift shanties – Doria handily won the popular vote.

According to analysts, the election outcome demonstrates the sentiment of ordinary citizens that their interests are not represented by “professional” politicians (or what we call traditional politicians) whose disconnect with the poor have grown in recent years. Voters also see Doria’s wealth as an assurance that he will not be tainted or tempted by corruption. His track record as a college professor and businessman also stoked hopes that he would share the wealth of his experience for the benefit of his constituents.

In Rio, a conservative evangelical bishop and senator, Marcelo Crivella, also defeated an ally of Temer – underscoring the deep dissatisfaction of residents for mainstream politicians, many of whom are implicated in corruption scandals that seem to break out every week in Brazil. Crivella certainly has his work cut out for him considering that Rio’s coffers is practically empty and could hardly pay its police force and other public employees – with the situation compounded by rampant criminality.

Observers say Crivella’s victory also shows a marked turnaround as far as issues like abortion are concerned, because the bishop ran on a platform against the legalization of drugs, abortion and “gender ideology.” In fact, Crivella hit the ground running, so to speak, by enacting 78 decrees that would help bring the city back on its feet.

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Spy tidbits

My friend, columnist Mon Tulfo, commented on my Dec. 27 column (PNP: Only one gun supplier) about the upcoming bidding for 26,000 pistols for the Philippine National Police.

Although I am a Glock pistol fan myself and, in fact, own one, I have to admit that Mon knows better than I do when it comes to guns. Mon is a known gun aficionado and a good target shooter. I appreciate my friend’s comments and they are all well taken.

The main point I was driving at in the column was that the PNP should have more open biddings that would allow for the participation of more suppliers who can also give the PNP “more value for money,” so to speak.

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