While Philex Mining’s CSR budget is largely apportioned as a percentage of its expenses, as mandated by the government, the Company’s provisions oftentimes exceed what is prescribed under the law. This budget is generously spent within its programs, anchored on the acronym I-HELP, which stands for I (information, education and communication), H (health and sanitation), E (education), L (livelihood and skills development), and P (public infrastructure projects), together with environmental conservation, with each area running a specific set of activities.

The ‘I’ category focuses on information campaigns and public consultations; ‘H’ on medical and dental missions, hospital operations, and health center administration; ‘E’ on providing scholarships, running free elementary and subsidized high school facilities, and sponsoring post graduate studies; “L” for livelihood and skills development, together with a Livelihood and Technical Center, agro-forestry, farming, and aquaculture support projects; and “P” for public infrastructure support through the construction of schools, roads, bridges, social halls, health centers and places of worship. Equal emphasis is also placed on environmental conservation primarily through reforestation activities and land, air, and water resource quality management.

To put things in context, the communities within and around the Company’s areas of operations, before Philex Mining came on board, were merely groups of families thriving basically on agriculture and small-scale mining activities. Since then, the CSR projects have transformed these communities into functional, organized and self-sustaining societies that contribute to nation-building and strongly illustrate that responsible mining can co-exist with sustainable communities and a green environment.