The Pampanga provincial government has collected ₱1.056 billion in revenues from Mt. Pinatubo’s sand and rocks in the whole of 2023, ensuring more local income for health and other services to the people, Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda said on Wednesday, February 7.

Last year’s gross collection has surpassed Pineda’s own annual revenue records since he assumed office in 2019, a report from the Office of the Provincial Treasurer (OPT) showed.

According to OPT records, the Pineda administration collected ₱459.6 million in 2019, ₱609.6 million and ₱782.5 million during the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, ₱738.6 million when the governor enforced the anti-overloading law in 2022, and P1.056 billion in 2023.

Totalling ₱3.647 billion in five years from 2019 to 2023, these were generated through the P250- administrative fee and P150-sand tax and various fees including penalties. The barangays, cities or towns, and province share the sand tax at 40-30-30 percent, respectively. Capitol retains the administrative fee to regulate the multi-million pesos quarry industry, bringing the net provincial share or revenues to over ₱2 billion in five years.

The amounts ranked Pampanga as the Top 3 among 10 provinces with the highest locally sourced revenues in 2021, earning also the 5th spot in collection efficiency that year, Memorandum Circular No. 015-2022 of the Department of Finance’s Bureau of Local Government Finance showed.

“Malaki po ang aking pagpapasalamat sa mga quarry associations at hauling companies dahil sa kanilang pagbabayad ng buwis, pagsunod sa ating mga patakaran at pagtalima sa batas kontra- overloading (I am extremely grateful to quarry associations and hauling companies for their payment of taxes, for adhering to our policies and obeying the anti-overloading law),” the governor said.

The governor also thanked former Bacolor Mayor Romeo “Buddy” Dungca for supervising well the regulatory unit Kalam (Kapampangan a Lulugud at Matapat). Business leaders had said that the resiliency of the Kapampangans showed in how they transformed the disaster to a kalam (blessing) by selling the sand and other volcanic debris from the June 1991 eruption and lahar flows.

Pineda assured: “Ang kita po sa quarry ay ginagamit lagi sa mga serbisyo para sa ating mga kabalen.”

He said his administration continues to be committed to balancing the safety of the environment as well as government and private infrastructure while regulating the industry.