The administration of Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone on Tuesday warned mining companies operating in the Homonhon Island to settle tens of millions of tax obligations to local government units and ensure environmental conservation of the historically-important island or face possible closure.
Five of the eight barangays in Homonhon Island, where Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan first landed in the Philippines during his historic circumnavigation of the world in 1521 and is part of Eastern Samar’s Guiuan town, have mining operations, mostly for extraction of nickel ore and chromite.
Lawyer Eden Balagasay, provincial legal officer of Eastern Samar, said that according to data of the provincial government on aggregate volumes listed on the mining companies’ chromite and nickel ore stock transport permit, five mining companies owe the LGU unpaid real property tax of around P133 million.
Aside from that, Balagasay said the provincial government and other LGUs haven’t received their total 40 percent share of the 4 percent excise tax collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue from mineral shipments. The 40 percent share of the excise tax is split three ways—45 percent to LGU, 20 percent for the province, and 35 percent for the host barangay.
“Gov. Evardone has set a comprehensive review and assessment of the full performance and compliance reports due for submission by the mining companies to make sure that these miners remain true to the provisions of their MPSAs, along with those of the Local Government Code and ordinances issued by the provincial government of Eastern Samar, on protecting the environment as well as the workers of these mining firms and the other residents of the host communities,” Balagasay told a news conference Tuesday.
MPSA refers to mineral production sharing agreement is a national government contract granting a private company exclusive right to mine a certain mineral claim area.
In 2021, based on a data recently cited by Gov. Evardone, shipment from Homonhon Island total 605,017 metric tons of nickel ore and 19,105 tons of chromite.
