A P1.218-billion tax assessment against Apo Land and Quarry Corp. (ALQC) was reduced to P211.56 million under Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro following a proposed compromise settlement with the company.
ALQC proposed the compromise to settle its tax liability with the Provincial Government’s executive department. The agreement still requires approval from the Provincial Board (PB).
Baricuatro said the reduction resulted from the removal of extraction fees imposed on quarrying activities conducted on private land.
Why the huge drop?
The original tax assessment, covering the years 2009 to 2025, was a staggering P1,218,630,650.84. This included extraction taxes, monitoring fees, environmental enhancement fees, plus various surcharges, penalties and interest.
So, how did a billion-peso bill shrink to just over P200 million?
The answer lies in where the quarrying happened. According to Governor Baricuatro, the bulk of the original bill came from extraction fees. However, these fees were removed from the final calculation because ALQC was operating on private land.
“Even I was asking why the amount became so small, why it was significantly reduced," Baricuatro said. "But the lawyers explained to me that this is really the only allowable fee because they did not extract on public land. It was private land, so we cannot collect if the extraction was done on private property. That’s why there is no extraction fee."
Legal reason
Resti Arnaiz, the legal officer for the Office of the Governor, pointed to a specific Supreme Court ruling to back up this decision.
The ruling, Province of Bulacan v. Court of Appeals, states that local governments can only charge extraction taxes for materials taken from public land, not private property.
“Regardless of whether you have an MPSA (Mineral Production Sharing Agreement) or whether the Province issued your permit, if the extraction is within a private lot, you cannot charge an extraction fee,” Arnaiz said.
New calculation
With the massive extraction tax taken out, the Provincial Accounting Office had to crunch the numbers again.
Here is what they kept:
Monitoring fees: These were recalculated using a new fair market value of P300 per cubic meter of limestone.
Environmental enhancement fees: These remained unchanged.
Surcharges and penalties: All accumulated late fees dating back to 2009 were kept in the final bill.
The final proposed settlement landed at exactly P211,560,530.35.
“As to why it came down to P211 million, this was not something that was immediately arrived at as a compromise agreement. There were a series of meetings between the lawyers of Apo and our Provincial Legal Office,” Arnaiz noted.
What happens next?
If the PB approves the deal, ALQC will have to pay the entire P211.56 million in a single lump sum within seven days of signing the agreement.
“That is what Apo will pay to settle the obligation," Arnaiz said. "They requested that once they pay the P211 million, they will be issued a tax clearance certificate, meaning they will be cleared and will no longer have any liability with the Province."
The PB was scheduled to discuss the resolution on Monday, March 2, but the decision was deferred.
Background
This tax issue didn't happen overnight. It started under former governor Gwendolyn Garcia. She questioned ALQC’s operations and even asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to cancel their contracts, claiming they broke environmental and mining laws.
Previously, the Provincial Government calculated that ALQC owed over P1 billion just for the limestone they extracted between April 2016 and December 2024. The company had only paid a small fraction of what the Province believed was due.
Now, the final decision rests with the PB members. Their vote will determine if this years-long multi-million peso dispute finally comes to an end. / CDF