In a surprise move to protect the interest of Cebu Province, Gov. Gwen Garcia is seeking to revoke the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) of Dolomite Mining Corp. (DMC), a mining firm based in Alcoy, southern Cebu.
The governor made the announcement during her meeting with DMC president Cesar Omnes and his legal counsel, Atty. Raymund Martelino, on Wednesday, August 9.
She was joined by provincial legal officer Atty. Donato Villa, provincial treasurer Atty. Roy Salubre, and Executive Assistant Atty. Bret Monsanto.
Gov. Garcia pointed out that DMC disregarded the provincial ordinances that ordered the stoppage of operations of Philippine Mining Service Corporation (PMSC) by continuing to supply raw materials to PMSC.
DMC, a Filipino Japanese-owned firm, supposedly has a MPSA with the government to mine dolomite in Cebu for 25 years or until 2030. Cebu has a rich mineable deposit of dolomite.
It was in October 2020 when Gov. Garcia first issued an EO for the stoppage of PMSC’s operations in Brgy. Pugalo because of its failure to pay taxes to the provincial government as stipulated by the Provincial Ordinance.
While DMC already settled its tax obligations for 15 years to the Provincial Government last April, the governor had to revoke its MPSA because of its continuing business with PMSC.
Gov. Garica noted that PMSC’s defiance to pay its dues is disadvantageous to the Province, considering that they’re making money out of the natural resources of Cebu.
To recall, last Feb. 17, Gov. Garcia issued Executive Order No. 7 Series of 2023, reiterating a prior directive for the PMSC to immediately stop from further processing, selling, and transporting dolomite, associated mineral deposits, and other quarry resources due to violations of local tax and environmental laws.
However, PMSC defied the initial order by buying over 2.5 million metric tons of mineral resources extracted by the DMC, the mining leaseholder in Alcoy, from September 2020 to December 2022, according to the data by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
Such minerals, unless disproved by PMSC, were processed by the corporation despite the express order from the governor for them to refrain from doing so.
For many years, the raw dolomite quarried by DMC is delivered to its sole buyer, the PMSC, for processing to various desired sizes and marketable products. | Carlo Lorenciana