THE Cebu Provincial Government has issued a cease and desist order against the Dolomite Mining Corp. (DMC) in Alcoy town, southern Cebu, for selling dolomite ore to the Philippine Mining Service Corp. (PMSC).
The DMC has sworn to abide by this decision.
Their legal counsel, Raymund Martelino, submitted a letter of undertaking to Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia on Monday, March 11, 2024.
According to Martelino, the DMC will immediately comply with the order “due to its (PMSC) alleged continuing violations of existing law, rules and local ordinances.”
“In compliance with said order, we undertake to ensure compliance therewith immediately. Further, DMC reaffirms its commitment to faithfully adhering to all relevant laws, rules and regulations.”
The problem started when the Capitol learned that DMC had been supplying PMSC with dolomite even after the Capitol had previously ordered DMC to stop doing so because PMSC had been violating the Capitol’s tax laws.
In October 2020, Governor Garcia first issued an executive order to halt PMSC’s activities in Barangay Pugalo as a result of its refusal to comply with Provincial Ordinance 2008-10 and pay taxes to the provincial government.
On Feb. 17, 2023, Garcia issued Executive Order 7 series of 2023, reinforcing its directive for PMSC to immediately stop processing, selling, and transporting dolomite and other quarry resources in response to the company’s violations of local tax and environmental rules.
According to data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, the PMSC disregarded the initial order by purchasing more than 2.5 million metric tons of mineral resources that were mined by the DMC, the mining leaseholder in Alcoy, between September 2020 and December 2022, prompting the governor to revoke DMC’s Mineral Production Sharing Agreement with the Capitol, which allowed the company to mine dolomite in Alcoy for 25 years, until 2030.
“DMC has begun settling its tax obligations to the Capitol on an installment basis beginning April last year, as it also failed to pay its tax dues since 2008 -- a thing which PMSC has remained defiant as of writing,” the Capitol said in a statement.
Mining businesses operating in the province are required to pay taxes to the Provincial Government in compliance with Cebu Provincial Ordinance 2008-10.
The ordinance specifies that a 10 percent tax, up from the previous two percent, of the local market value per cubic meter of quarry resources extracted within the province’s jurisdiction must be paid.
This tax applies to permit holders, licenses, contracts, or agreements issued by entities other than the provincial government. / TPT with PR