CABARROGUIS—The Department of Education has received P53 million from Australian-Canadian miner OceanaGold to finance new school buildings, facilities, equipment and teacher training.
DepEd Region 2 director, Dr. Estela Cariño said the donation fell under OceanaGold’s “We Care Program” in support of the government’s K-12 program.
David Way, OceanaGold Philippines Inc. general manager, said this is one way wherein “we can help supply the educational needs of children in the Didipio Mine’s host communities.”
Of the total amount, P43 million went to the ongoing construction of a three-story school building of Eastern Nueva Vizcaya National High School in the village of Didipio, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya which hosts OceanaGold’s Copper-Gold Project.
Way said the ENVNHS will accommodate students not only from the host barangay but also those from the surrounding villages in the mining area.
He said at least 10 recipient-communities benefit from the operation of OceanaGold’s project which include the villages of Didipio, Alimit, Camamasi, Capisaan, Wangal, Tukod, Binogawa in Kasibu town, Nueva Vizcaya and the Barangays of Tucod, Dingasan and Dibibi in Cabarroguis, Quirino.
Cariño said the remaining P10 million under a memorandum of agreement was given to the provincial DepEd of Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino, P7 million of which will go to ENVNHS for its laboratory equipment, books and teacher training.
She said the P1.5 million will be distributed to 15 more high schools in Nueva Vizcaya; and P1.5 million to 18 high schools in Quirino province.
At the signing of MOA, Way said their newly launched “We Care Program” was their social investment framework and platform that provides improved access and transparency for all legitimate beneficiaries of their business.
He said that with many viable causes in need of support, people have now become passionate about a lot of things, especially education.
“Indeed it is our fervent hope that with the financial assistance OceanaGold is extending to the [DepEd] in implementing the K-12 program, families in our communities will not have to be torn apart because children have to leave home for further education,” Way said.
He said that having the right education provides a lot of avenues for people to uplift their lives and that the company has been “very explicit in our aim of delivering real positive impacts on the lives of community residents.”
“To achieve this, we have broken the mold of corporate social responsibility that simply implements projects. We have now placed an outward focus in our efforts. We listen to our stakeholders, we engage with them on the ground to identify their needs. Our communities and our business is interdependent; there is no one without the other.” Way said.
OceanaGold is a multinational gold and copper producer with over 24 years of operating sustainably in New Zealand and more recently the Philippines.
Its flagship operation is the Didipio Mine in the northern Philippines. It commenced commercial production in April 2013 and its mine life is up to 2030.
