SMI inks 5-year SDMP MOA with three host Tampakan communities
Tampakan, South Cotabato - Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) and its three host communities in the Municipality of Tampakan, South Cotabato, signed on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the five-year implementation of the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project’s Social Development and Management Program (SDMP).
Pula Bato Punong Barangay and current Federation President of the Liga ng mga Barangay – South Cotabato Chapter Neil Ryan Escobillo, Danlag Punong Barangay Judith Magbanua and Tablu Punong Barangay Gloria Magbanua led their respective Councils during the signing ceremony at Cinco Niñas in Koronadal City.
SMI's Community Development Superintendent Julius Clarete signed on behalf of the mining company.
SMI will sign soon SDMP MOAs with the other seven (7) host and 12 neighboring communities in the municipalities of Columbio (in Sultan Kudarat), Malungon (in Sarangani) and Kiblawan (in Davao del Sur).
The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 requires mining companies to allocate funds for programs, projects and activities aimed towards uplifting the lives of their host and neighboring communities. These projects include access to education and health services, support for local organizations and small business, and building farm-to-market roads, water systems, and schools, among others.
In 2023 alone, SMI invested PhP66 million for the various social development and management programs of its host and neighboring communities within the Tampakan Project area.
Even though the Tampakan Project has not yet started, SMI also has already invested more than PhP1.2 billion in financing various social development projects and activities to advance the socio–economic, health and educational conditions of its hosts and neighboring communities.
DENR’s Mines and Geoscience Bureau XII Community Affairs Officer Jose Alvaro Batilaran witnessed the MOA signing together with SMI's Tenements and Permitting Superintendent Atty. Julius Gregory Delgado, Community Affairs and Development Superintendent Alex Clarabal and Resettlement Superintendent Jimwell Orpilla. (30)
2024-03-11
