As a fresh batch of ducklings hatch in an eclectic farm in Taganito Mining, so begins the important step towards fulfilling a dream of having a balut production farm within the mine site. Filipinos love balut.  As a matter of fact, balut is associated with the Pinoy’s exotic palate and is accepted as a national delicacy in the Philippines, our “national street food”. The town of Pateros in Taguig City is the acknowledged balut capital of the country but agriculturists in Taganito Mining Corp. (TMC) believe that there is a big market for balut in Claver, Surigao del Norte, so they started to dream of having their own balut production as means of livelihood for the communities in this mining area.  “Our main goal is to assist our partner communities and teach them to become producers of balut in the whole of Claver and adjacent towns, with lower prices so people can afford and enjoy balutproduced in their own backyards,” says Danding Elizalde, Agriculturist at TMC and the project’s overall coordinator. A likely recipient of the balut production technology that TMC is developing is the Sapa Integrated Farmers' Association (SIFAS), one of the people organizations (POs) that TMC supports under the mining company’s Social Development Management Program (SDMP).  SIFAS already has a duck farm but they are selling their egg produce until they are able to produce balut to sell. “TMC is our biggest support in terms of funding and know-how and we cannot wait for our dream to have a balut production here in Claver,” says Mr. Virgelio Buyan, SIFAS President. The critical first step is to grow a healthy batch of “breeders”. Elizalde says that Ducks are one of the simplest animals to raise.  They are resilient against unpredictable weather changes and do not consume a lot of time to nurture and grow. TMC, a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), has always been on the lookout for sustainable community projects to develop and to pass on to the residents of the company’s host communities, and the Environmental Department of TMC that takes care of the protection and enhancement of the environment in the mining communities came upon the exciting idea of balut production.  “After the initial learnings, we’ve warmed up to the system of caring for the ducks and we found out it’s a piece of cake really as we do the feeding and cleaning of cages in between our daily activities and would take turns in collecting the eggs that would be laid during night,” shares Elizalde. “It is very important to document every challenge we’ve encountered,” says Vince Ivan Libao, OIC-Environmental Manager for TMC, and Elizalde’s immediate superior. One of the bigger hurdles was when TMC did not have an incubator. The eggs would be sold to employees every time because it was difficult to hatch them into ducklings since mother ducks would not warm on their eggs and there were bush rats that feed on them at night. “We could not grow healthy breeders because we could not hatch most of our eggs so an incubator became a necessity so we had one fabricated in Surigao City for P60,000 pesos” explains Libao. But with an incubator, TMC started producing ducklings and perfected the system that now produce fertile eggs with better hatchability rate with the target to produce 500 ducklings in the next few months. At the moment, TMC is able to hatch 60 ducklings at a time and is getting nearer to the realization of its dream of having an efficient balut production farm. TMC mine site is located in barangays Hayanggabon, Urbiztondo, Taganito and Cagdianao, in the municipality of Claver, province of Surigao del Norte.  Its area of operations is within the Surigao Mineral Reservation. 

Photo: Engr. Valeroso receives the Safety Seal Certificate from DOLE Caraga RD Suyao Taganito Mining Corp. (TMC), subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), has been awarded the government's safety seal certification, the first company to be bestowed the recognition in the province. The certification came after a validation and technical inspection by the team from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) regional and provincial offices on September 2-3, 2021. Led by DOLE-Caraga Director Atty. Joffrey Suyao, the team determined that TMC has complied with the minimum public health standards related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. "I want to emphasize the importance of observing our safety and health protocols among our companies, because as long as we operate, the health of our employees depends on it," Atty. Suyao said in the dialect. "If the workers are not healthy, the productivity would surely be affected." According to Suyao, the safety seal certification is a tripartite effort on the part of the workers, the management, and the government "that must all work together for us to achieve a safe and healthy working environment." Suyao said he was impressed upon entering TMC's premises, which involved a series of stringent health protocols for visitors. "We had to go through the safety protocols here, observe proper hand washing, temperature checking, checklist, etcetera. I was really impressed because these are the very things that our government requires," the DOLE-Caraga chief said. Meanwhile, TMC Resident Mine Manager Artemio Valeroso said the certification was "a testament of what we are doing in this establishment. There is a secret why TMC has been operating for a long time: TMC is always taking care of the people, of the community, and of course our employees." "Maintaining a good harmonious relationship with our stakeholders is important to us. Thank you to all of you for supporting TMC, sa ating mga contractors, managers, mining service providers, labor union, and all employees. Kung wala kayo, hindi din magiging ganito si Taganito Mining. We are all partners and we will do it as a team," Engr. Valeroso added. Valeroso vowed that with TMC being granted with the safety seal, "we have to sustain this and continue improving our programs and measures to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees and we all stay safe, healthy and always bida." The Safety Seal Certification is a voluntary certification scheme that affirms that an establishment is compliant with the minimum public health standards set by the government and uses or integrates its contact tracing with StaySafe.ph (or the SDN contact tracing app). The DOLE issues the Safety Seal for the manufacturing, construction sites, utilities (electric, water, gas, air conditioning supply, sewerage, waste management) information and communication companies (private publication, news, movie production, TV and radio companies), and warehouses. TMC applied for the safety certification as part of the company's commitment to comply beyond the regulatory standards mandated by the government. Among the measures employed by the company include mandatory wearing of face mask and shield, routine temperature checking, installation of foot baths, setup of handwashing facilities and alcohol stations, observance of social distancing and other minimum health protocols.

As part of its commitment to contribute to local economy, Taganito Mining Corporation (TMC), a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC), handed over its tax payments amounting to P75.5 million to the municipality of Claver. The payments consist of P 65,329,304.37 million in Business Tax and P 10,169,769.60 in Real Property Tax which were handed last December 14, 2020 and January 20, 2021, respectively. The handover of tax payments was led by Mine Accountant Cristy Mae Comandante-Pariño, Division Manager Salvador Cabauatan and Comrel Manager Roel Paniza. On behalf of Claver LGU, the tax payments were received by Municipal Treasurer Caryl Cagas-Lukban, in the presence of Municipal Administrator Atty. Jeffrey Galido and Sanggunian Bayan members. “TMC is committed to creating a positive impact in our host and neighboring communities and one way we do this is by ensuring timely payment of our taxes which translates into projects and services for the community. This is on top of our Social Development and Management Program (SDMP) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program funds,” shares TMC Resident Mine Manager Artemio E. Valeroso. Based on data from the Commission on Audit consolidating the total assets of LGUs in 2019, the mining town of Claver ranked 1st among the richest municipalities in Mindanao with P 1.91 billion worth of assets. Meanwhile, Surigao del Norte ranked 6th among the richest provinces in the country with P 16.68 billion worth of assets. TMC is a four-time awardee of the Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative for Excellence in Reporting of payments made to the government. TMC also ranked 14th among the Department of Finance’s list of Top 500 taxpayers who filed their income tax returns ahead of the deadlines which were deferred due to lockdowns during the pandemic. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, TMC has mobilized over P 19.1 million to extend relief goods, medical supplies, test kits and other assistance to its host and neighboring communities in the province of Surigao del Norte.