KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 14 September) – The local government unit of Tampakan in South Cotabato has demanded tax dues worth P397 million from Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), operator of the controversial $5.9-billion Tampakan project.
The bid of the local government to collect the amount has been questioned by the mining firm before a local court.
Tampakan Mayor Leonard Escobillo confirmed Wednesday they already received last week a copy of the civil case filed by SMI against the LGU.
Escobillo earlier ordered the Office of the Municipal Treasurer to review the taxes paid by all business establishments operating in the locality over the past few years.
Based on the assessment of the municipal treasurer’s office, SMI was found to have deficiencies for business tax from 2020 to 2022 and mayor’s permit fees and other regulatory fees from 2013 to 2022.
Escobillo said the LGU is unfazed by the case filed by the SMI.
“We have sent them three notices to settle their tax obligations but to no avail. I am just implementing our local (tax) ordinance in effect since 2012,” he told MindaNews by phone in mixed language.
The mayor said the LGU was willing to discuss a settlement but SMI decided to bring it to court. He said they will face the mining company squarely.
SMI has not issued a media statement on the petition it filed with the host LGU.
The Tampakan project is touted as the largest undeveloped copper-gold minefield in Southeast Asia and among the largest of its kind in the world.
Based on a company study, the Tampakan project has the potential to yield an average of 375,000 tons of copper and 360,000 ounces of gold in concentrate per annum in the expected 17-year-life of the mine.
The national government granted SMI a 25-year Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) that was to expire on March 21, 2020.
SMI sought and was granted a 12-year extension for the original FTAA, or until March 21, 2032. The FTAA can still be renewed for another 25 years.
The FTAA covers about 10,000 hectares straddling the towns of Tampakan in South Cotabato, Kiblawan in Davao del Sur and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat.
Since it was launched in January 2003, the Tampakan project, named after the town that hosts the massive mineral deposits, has been staunchly opposed by the local Catholic church and environmental groups on concerns over the environment, food security, health and human rights.
Security threats from the communist New People’s Army (NPA) and armed tribesmen also hobbled the Tampakan project since then. On New Year 2008, NPA rebels stormed and burned the company’s basecamp in Barangay Tablu, Tampakan.
In 2010, the South Cotabato provincial government imposed a landmark ban on open-pit mining, the method that SMI admitted is the most viable way to extract the deposits lying near the surface. The ban hampered the bid of SMI to proceed to commercial operation.
In May 2022, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of South Cotabato lifted the ban, removing the decade-old thorn in the throat of SMI. However, South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. vetoed the measure, thus the ban on open-pit mining remains in effect across the province.
The Tampakan project has obtained an environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Certification Precondition from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, which are vital requirements to proceed to commercial mining operation. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)