Residents of Quezon town in Nueva Vizcaya have benefitted from the socio-economic impact brought by responsible mining operations, which contributed to its transformation from 4th class into a first-class municipality, the town’s mayor said.
Mayor Dolores Binwag said that FCF Minerals Corporation, which operates the Runruno Gold Project, has been instrumental in various infrastructure improvements, job creation, education support, and better healthcare services for its residents.
She said, “All the barangays, aside from Runruno where the mining project is, are receiving their share of the national wealth from the excise tax being paid by FCF to the government; this share is channeled to projects that would benefit the people such as a P150-million road project and other infrastructure,”
“Now, our people have regular income, and the town is progressing,” said Binwag.
For his part, Engineer Edgardo Sabado, the Provincial Planning and Development Officer of Nueva Vizcaya, said that some 95-97 percent of the company’s employees are residents of the town, making FCF’s mining operations a major economic driver.
“Thus, FCF also contributes to the economy of the municipality when it comes to the salaries and wages being received by the employees,” he said, adding that the company’s operation is responsible for a significant part of the gross domestic product of the province.