TUBA, Benguet -- This town in upland Benguet province will use part of the 2018 local business taxes paid by Philex Mining Corp. to put up a domestic water system in one of the barangays of this first-class municipality of about 47,000 people.
Tuba Municipal Mayor Ignacio Rivera said Friday his town had collected PHP7.69 million out of the total amount paid by Philex.
The mining firm earlier reported that it paid almost PHP15 million in local business taxes for 2018 to the municipalities of Tuba and Itogon, where it has gold and copper mining operations called the Padcal mine.
Rivera said the planned domestic water system would be for Barangay Poblacion, whose more than 15,000 residents get water from the Baguio Water District.
He said the facility would source its water from the springs of Mount Santo Tomas, and that once constructed, the Tuba municipal government would operate it.
Roselyn Dahilan, finance group manager at Padcal mine, said, “The timely tax payments empower the host and neighboring communities to shape their own future.” (PNA)
