Benguet Corp marks centennial year

Benguet Corp. which pioneered modern mining in the Philippines a hundred years ago today, celebrates its centennial anniversary. The board of directors and management, led by its chairman, Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, and president/CEO Benjamin Philip G. Romualdez, will commemorate this significant milestone in the life of the company with the opening today of a photo exhibit entitled "Yesterday’s Tomorrows: The BenguetCorp Story." Set at the Filipinas Heritage Library in Makati City, the event will featuure an inspiring display of the company’s memoirs and legacies to the mining industry and economic history of the country. The Centennial Stamp from PhilPost Corporation, Centennial Marker from the National Historical Institute and the Centennial Website will be launched on this same occasion.

On the same day, a tree planting program, a grand reunion and cañao will be held simultaneously at the Benguet Gold Operation in Benguet province and at the Masinloc Chromite Operation in Benguet province and at the Masinloc Chromite Operation in Zambales.

In the following weeks, medical outreach programs will be held in the various barangays of Itogon municipality in Benguet, where modern mining operations began a hundred years ago.

Benguet Corp. is the oldest mining company in the Philippines, founded on Aug. 12, 1903. Its commercial operations started in its first mine and mill facility in Antamok with an average daily production of 350 grams of gold from its 60-ton unit. It has since become the largest gold, copper and refractory chromite producer in the country for most of past century.

At the height of its operations, Benguet employed close to 24,000 to whom it provided free housing, water, light and fuel, medical services, and elementary and high school education to its dependents. Over the years, the company has paid out P17.8 billion in payroll and benefits. Benguet has paid over P4.7 billion of taxes and duties. In environment protection, the company comes second to none having invested P2.6 billion since 1977 in protecting and nurturing the environment and planting over 20 million trees over 20,000 hectares. It has provided P824 million in services to the community.

In the area of education, the company has built over a hundred classrooms in the rural areas and subsidized 185,000 students through elementary and high school. In the area of health, Benguet has built and operated five hospitals and dispensaries accommodating 500 beds and whose patients were fully subsidized by the company.

In the area of infrastructure, the company has built more than 200 kilometers of roads providing access to areas not previously accessible, opening up communities to commerce and connecting them to the rest of the country. It has linked previously impassable areas by building 80 bridges and constructed seven earth dams, one of which is the largest in Asia, all paid for and provided by the company. In terms of foreign exchange, the company has contributed $7.6 billion or P408.9 billion at current rates. This is BenguetCorp’s legacy and contribution to the Philippines, all from the pioneering and innovative spirit of the thousands of hardworking Benguet men and women, all who have made Benguet what it is today.