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Writer's pictureGov Data Initiative

Using data and SMaRT Dashboard to monitor mining revenues and spending

Updated: Oct 5, 2023




The Philippine Gold Processing and Refining Corp. (PGPRC) in Aroroy, Masbate is currently the country’s largest upstream mining operation in terms of production value in 2021. According to the Local Government Code of 1991, host local government units (LGUs) are entitled to 40% of nationally-collected taxes from mining. How much did the LGUs hosting PGPRC receive in 2021?


Using the Receipts from the National Wealth Dataset of the Bureau of Local Government Finance, we visualized how much LGUs received from the utilization of the country’s natural resources with the help of the Spending Monitoring and Results Tracker (SMaRT) Dashboard. We found that the province of Masbate and the municipality of Aroroy received Php 25.8 million and Php 11.5 million in 2021, respectively. Using the Utilization Collection Dataset, we also learned that Aroroy spent most of their 2021 shares from the national wealth on capital outline which is an expenditure class made up of mainly infrastructure spending.


Aroroy and Masbate are just two of the many LGUs hosting mining operations and other industries utilizing our natural resources. According to the same BLGF dataset, the total shares from the national wealth downloaded to LGUs that year amounted to almost Php 1.3 billion. This amount was shared by 30 provinces and 209 cities and municipalities.


Monitoring LGU shares from mining revenues and spending is important for two reasons: to make sure that LGUs are receiving what is due to them and that they are spending them toward the sustainable development of impacted communities. When planned, spent, and monitored well, these revenues can positively impact mining communities. This is made even more important now as the demand for ETMs increases.


As such, national government agencies (NGAs) and mining companies must systematically disclose mining payments data to make sure that LGUs, civil society organizations (CSOs), and communities have access to information they need to monitor mining revenues and spending. CSOs and communities must make sure that disclosures are utilized and that they have the capacity to access, analyze, and apply them. CSOs must be able to utilize existing accountability mechanisms at the local level - such as the Provincial Mining Regulatory Boards (PMRBs) and local development councils (LDCs), and at the national level such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).


There is no forever in mining. As such, stakeholders must make sure that mining revenues are spent on sustainable development. When local stakeholders have the tools and capacity to access, analyze, and apply data on mining, they are able to better plan revenues and other benefits from our finite mineral resources. Disclosing and using data with the SMaRT Dashboard is one step to get there.





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