AbaCore Capital Holdings Inc. said Friday subsidiary Abacus Coal Exploration Development Corp. received a regulatory approval from the National Commission on Indigenous People on the monetization of its coal assets in Surigao del Sur province.
The company said in a statement the NCIP certified that Abacoal had obtained the consent of the Manobo indigenous cultural communities who live in Marihatag, Cagwait, Tago and Bayabas in Surigao del Sur.
The regulatory authority also issued a certification of precondition to Abacoal for its coal operating contract in the area. The approval allows Abacoal to be one step closer in generating income from its coal assets in the province.
The company is set to earn income from the coal operation that its joint venture partner Oriental Vision Mining Philippines Inc. will conduct.
“We are pleased to hear that the indigenous people in Surigao del Sur have accepted our plan to responsibly monetize our coal assets in the area,” ABA chairman and chief executive Raul de Mesa said.
“While we believe this initiative will diversify the income sources of ABA, we are also fully committed to ensuring that the work we do will not adversely impact the environment and the communities that live near our coal assets,” it said.
ABA said it also executed a memorandum of agreement in November between wholly-owned subsidiary Philippine Regional Investment Development Corp. and Highsource Prime Building, Inc.
The parties will set up a joint venture to develop a four-star hotel, land and water amusement park with supporting facilities, 3D Glass Paradise, a residential community and commercial establishments to be located at the Montemaria Project in Pagkilatan, Batangas tourism site.
Highsource will invest up to $400 million in the project.
PRIDE will contribute to the joint venture the mountaintop land of its subsidiaries overlooking Batangas Bay and the Verde island passage in Pagkilatan, Batangas City, with a total area of 17 hectares at P9,000 per square meter for a total value of P1.6 billion for at least 40-percent share in the joint venture.
Highsource will invest up to P2.6 billion with an increasing share in the joint venture as it reaches certain milestones.
The second phase will have PRIDE contribute another 20 hectares of mountaintop land of its subsidiaries at the reappraised value at the time of commencement of phase 2 for a minimum of another 40 percent.
Highsource will contribute the proportionate amount in cash or development.
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