BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Recognizing the challenge of economic sustainability through cooperatives, Asia-Pacific miner OceanaGold spent more than P5 million last year from its Social Development Management funds to support “enterprise development and agricultural credit projects.”
Thirteen cooperatives were established after the success of the multi-million enterprise Didipio Community Development Corp. or DiCorp in Barangay Didipio, Kasibu Nueva Vizcaya. Barangay Didipio is the community hosting OceanaGold’s Didipio Mine. These cooperatives will be focused on helping to ensure the sustainability of the livelihood programs beyond the life of the Didipio mine.
DiCorp was established through the assistance of OceanaGold. The main goal is to train residents achieve a self-sufficient local economy during the mine’s operation and after the mine is exhausted and eventually closed.
Owned and managed by long-time residents of Didipio, the corporation now employs over 300 employees, generated P932 million in gross revenue from long-term Didipio mine contracts from 2011 to 2016. DiCorp has been awarded by BIR as one of the top tax payers in Nueva Vizcaya.
Without reinventing the wheel, OceanaGold maintained close collaboration with the local government units and their development councils. The cooperative was used as a business model in distributing the annual SDMP funds allocated for enterprise development among the mine’s host and 10 neighboring communities. Funds were either use as seed capital or additional investment to their existing businesses.
“Livelihood funds from the SDMP were channeled through these cooperatives to create more jobs, support business expansion, and expand economic opportunities for our communities,” said Chito Gozar, OceanaGold’s senior vice president for communications and external affairs.
In Barangay Didipio alone, there are three established cooperatives. Two of which are already registered—the Didipio Community Multi-Purpose Cooperative and Didipio Producers Cooperative. They operate a hog and integrated vegetable production project, a hardware store, an agricultural farm inputs supply, and an embroidery center.
OceanaGold experts has been providing leadership, operations training, business plan development, and technical assistance to the cooperatives to strengthen these community businesses.
“In addition to these cooperatives, the Didipio mine operation of OceanaGold has directly and indirectly created new business opportunities and expanded the need for agricultural products. The operation currently spends approximately $4.5 million annually on food and supplies from local businesses for the Didipio Camp,” Gozar added.