Eastern Samar gov't urges Homonhon miners to settle property taxes

The provincial government of Eastern Samar is calling on mining firms operating in Homonhon Island off Guiuan town to settle unpaid real property taxes (RPTs) amounting to over P100 million. 

At a press briefing in Quezon City, Eastern Samar provincial treasurer Antonia Macawile said the total unsettled RPTs amounted to P133.9 million based on the companies’ aggregate volumes listed in their chromite and nickel ore stocks transport permits (OTPs), issued by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Based on provincial government data, Cambayas Mining Corp. has unsettled RPTs of P96,578,000 for the period 2012 to 2016; Techiron Resources Inc.: P22,560,687 from 2017 to 2022; Emir Mineral Resources Corp. has unpaid RPTs worth P12,148,255; and Mt. Sinai Mining Exploration and Development Corp. has P2,580,000 in obligations since 2013.

The provincial government, according to Macawile, is yet to compute the RPTs of Nickelace, operated by Verum Terra and Global Min-Met Resources.

In a statement read by Provincial Legal Officer Eden Balagasay, Eastern Samar Governor Ben Evardone said the miners’ continued defiance would compel him to “issue a position paper to oppose, if not ask for the cancellation, of your MPSAs (Mineral Production Sharing Agreements).”

Evardone, however, said that while the provincial government has no regulatory control over the miners under the 1995 Philippine Mining Act, he would ask the DENR to revoke their MPSAs in Eastern Samar.

Balagasay said that the miners’ “excuse” for not settling RPTs was that they were already paying excise taxes to the national government.  

She, however, said that miners are required to pay RPTs to their host LGUs as provided in the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991, the Manual on Real Property Appraisal and Assessment Operations (MRPAAO) issued by the Department of Finance (DOF), and Provincial Ordinance No. 02-09 series of 2009 issued by the provincial government.

“But they have been remiss in their tax obligations to their host LGU of Guiuan, in violation of the 1991 LGC and ordinances issued by the provincial government of Eastern Samar,” said Evardone.

Balagasay said that the governor also ordered a review and assessment of the performance and compliance reports submitted by the miners “to find out what social and community development programs they have thus far carried out in their respective concession areas for their workers and the residents of the host communities.”

Moreover, Macawile said, “Governor Evardone wants the miners to settle their RPT arrears due their host LGUs because the unpaid taxes, along with the RPTs they are supposed to pay moving forward, will go a long way in funding development projects like roads, school buildings, and water supply facilities for us Estehanons.” —VBL, GMA Integrated News