South Cotabato governor Arthur Pingoy, in his state of the province address delivered Monday last week, said education has been the biggest beneficiary from the presence of mining companies in his province.
Speaking before provincial and local leaders, Pingoy highlighted gains in the education programs of his administration, citing support from the mining companies and other private companies.
“With the support Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) and the assistance of the Department of Education (DepEd), we were able to provide 100,000 health care kits for public elementary students,” Pingoy said.
According to the governor, the province could only provide 16,000 kits without the support from the mining company.
“Our shortage of 15,000 chairs for all public schools in the province has already been bridged through the efforts of SMI, Dole Philippines, and the Mahintana Foundation”, the governor said.
The governor also cited Tboli Mining Corporation (TMC) for donating facilities for a temporary boarding house for South Cotabato’s student scholars.
SMI is proponent of the proposed Tampakan Copper-Gold Project hosted by South Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Sarangani, and Sultan Kudarat. It is said to be potentially the biggest single foreign investment in the country. On the other hand the TMC operates a silver-gold project also in the province.
In a recent sustainability report released by the company, SMI had supported 19,000 elementary, high school and college students in the year 2010 alone, in the form of tuition and other school fees and monthly allowances and provided salary support for teachers within its proposed project area.
The report also declared that SMI invested P135 million ($3 million) in 2010 as part of its Corporate Social Involvement (CSI) initiatives, including education, health, livelihood and enterprise-building programs.
