GOVERNMENT auditors are leaning on the Mines and Geosciences Board (MGB) to collect P9.45 million in unpaid fees from mining companies and agency personnel who were held liable.
The audit team noted that of the total P19.4 million notice of charge (NC) issued against the MGB five years ago, 18 have already been issued Notices of Finality of Decisions (NFD) and COA Order of Execution (COE) as of 2018 but none of them has been enforced.
A notice of charge is issued when auditors make a determination that the amount of fees that should have been set or collected are lower than what was proper or according to existing rules and regulations.
The NC becomes final if the petition for review is overruled or if no appeal is filed within the reglementary period.
“Out of the balance, 18 notices totaling P9,447,662.04 or 49 percent have been issued Notice of Finality of Decision …there being no appeal filed,” the COA noted.
In the list provided in the audit report released on July 8, 2022, among the mining firms identified were Adnama Mining Resources Inc., Alnor Nac’s Construction and Development Corporation, Wellex Mining Resources Inc., Oriental Synergy Miming Corp., Shuley Mine, Inc., SR Metals Inc., Wellex Mining/Vista Buena Mining Corp., Oriental Vision Mining Corp, Cagdianao Mining Corp., Hinatuan Mining Corp., Taganito Mining Corp., Libjo Mining Corporation, and Platinum Group Metals Corporation.
“The NCs remain unsettled as of December 31, 2021 despite the 36 to 45 months that have passed since the COEs were issued to the persons liable. The last NSSDC (Notice of Settlement of Suspension, Disallowance, and Charge) issued was in CY 2019 and no settlement was made by the mining companies since then,” the COA pointed out.
It said the primary function of enforcing final NCs lies with the MGB Director as provided under Section 7 of the COA Circular No. 2009-006.
“This condition was due to the laxity of the management to enforce settlement of charges to the persons liable. Although one of the persons liable identified in the NC is the mining company, … the head of the agency as primarily responsible on the settlement of charges,” the COA stressed.
The MGB management said it has sent demand letters to mining companies to settle the NCs while notices have likewise been forwarded to retired MGB employees with unsettled disallowances.
