After posting record high income of P15 billion within first quarter this year, listed firm Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) has remitted P5.9 billion to the Department of Energy (DOE) as royalty share of the government on its coal mining operations covering the three-month stretch.
According to the Consunji-led firm, “the first quarter remittance is an 807-percent upsurge from the P656 million that SMPC paid during the same period last year.”
Of the P5.9 billion royalty share handed over to the State, it was emphasized that more than P3.5 billion will be retained by the national government; while the balance will be bestowed on the local government unit-hosts of the mine site.
In particular, the province of Antique will receive P476 million as share in the royalty; while the municipality of Caluya will corner P1.1 billion; and the Barangay Semirara site of the coal mine will get P833 million.
SMPC President and Chief Operating Officer Maria Cristina C. Gotianun said the company was able to turn over record-high royalty to the government, because “we had an exceptionally strong start – so much so that in three months, we surpassed our previous full-year royalty payments.”
The integrated energy firm similarly noted that it logged “all-time high coal shipments and average selling prices account for the record-setting government share.”
This year’s first quarter royalty remittance to the government had topped the aggregate P5.4 billion royalty share turned over to the DOE covering full year 2021.
At the time, SMPC indicated that it was registering “improved coal output and favorable market conditions,” that in turn had enabled the company “to ship more coal at elevated prices.”
The remittance of royalty share to the government is in line with the prescription of the Local Government Code of 1991, which stipulates that local government units are entitled to 40-percent share of the proceeds from extraction of mineral resources – and that will include coal mining operations.”
The coal outputs of SMPC from the Semirara mine are being lined up for export; as well as for the utilization of coal-fired power facilities in the country, as well as those in the cement sector and other domestic industries.