OceanaGold (Philippines), Inc. (OGP), a publicly listed company, has paid a total of PHP397.7 million in local business tax (LBT) to three municipalities in the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino for 2025.
OGP remitted an LBT of PHP198.9M to Kasibu town in Nueva Vizcaya, and paid PHP119.3M and PHP79.6M to the municipalities of Nagtipunan and Cabarroguis in Quirino, respectively.
This year, Kasibu and Cabarroguis joined Nagtipunan as first-class municipalities based on their respective average annual incomes for the last three years. First class municipalities are those earning an average of PHP200 million or more annually, based on Republic Act number 11964 or the Automatic Income Classification of Local Government Units Act.
Atty. Joan Adaci-Cattiling, OGP President and General Manager of External Affairs and Social Performance, expressed her appreciation to the officials for their support of the Company’s Didipio Mine.
“We are all working for the continuing operations of the mine so that we are able to continue giving benefits to our communities, agyaman kami (thank you),” she said.
Peter Sharpe, OGP Chairman of the Board, said that the Company is sharing its success with local communities through its taxes and other benefits.
“We are a part of the community and it is pleasing to share our success with the broader community. This is a partnership, a relationship…this is an example where we are giving back as much as we can,” he said.
OGP paid a total LBT of PHP421.9M and PHP326.2M to the three municipalities in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Kasibu Mayor Romeo Tayaban acknowledged the impact of OGP’s tax contributions on local development.
“We, the people of Kasibu, are grateful for OceanaGold’s tax payments, which have significantly helped improve the lives of our residents. Our local government is focused on enhancing infrastructure, particularly road networks, to facilitate economic activities in various barangays,” he stated in Ilocano
Similarly, Cabarroguis Vice Mayor Francisco Dulnuan, Jr., speaking on behalf of Mayor Avelino Agustin, Jr., emphasized the importance of OGP’s continued operations.
“We hope that the mine continues its operations, as it enables us to extend further support to our constituents,” he remarked in Ilocano.
Nagtipunan Mayor Noel Lim noted that the municipality successfully completed its public market and funded various social and environmental projects through the 2024 LBT payment from OGP.
“The local business tax payments from Didipio Mine have been a tremendous help to every municipality,” he said.
The municipalities also pledged, through their respective memorandum of agreement (MOA) with OGP, to allocate no less than PHP5 million from their own LBT share to fund projects, programs and activities in support of environmental management, protection, and conservation in their respective jurisdictions.
Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Region 2 Director Engr. Mario Ancheta highlighted the broader economic benefits of mining-related revenues, emphasizing that local communities gain from these development initiatives.
OGP operates the Didipio Mine, an underground gold-copper mine that straddles the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino in the island of Luzon, Philippines. The company entered into a Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) with the Republic of the Philippines in June 1994. The FTAA’s initial term ended in June 2019 and was confirmed renewed in July 2021 by the Philippine Government with the execution of the FTAA Addendum and Renewal Agreement.
OGP is a subsidiary of OceanaGold Corporation (OGC), which also operates the Waihi and Macraes mines in New Zealand and the Haile mine in the United States of America.
1 USD = PHP58.1190 (from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas February 11, 2025 Daily Reference Exchange Rate Bulletin)
