‘Town residents to benefit from Alegria oil field’

Alegria, Cebu Mayor Verna Magallon said that the additional income they will get from the oil field in their town will be used to provide more services to the people.

In an interview, the mayor said that 60 percent of the income from the oil field will be given to the National Government while 40 percent will go to the China International Mining and Petroleum Company Inc. (CIMP), service contractor of the oil extraction project.

The National Government’s share, Magallon said, will then be divided among local government units.

She said 18 percent will go to the Alegria Municipal Government, 14 percent to Barangay Montpellier, which hosts the oil field, and eight percent to the Cebu Provincial Government.

“We would not know the exact amount (of the share) at present because the oil production is gradual. The production starts from 200 to 300 barrels a day. We will know about our real share maybe two years from now,” the mayor said.

Magallon said the town’s share will help fund the annual budget, which presently stands at P90 million, P15 million of which is taken from local revenues while P75 million is their share from the National Government’s Internal Revenue Allotment.

They plan to use the additional revenue to deliver more potable water to the residents of Alegria, provide electricity to remote areas, deliver health care services such as distributing free medicines, and provide cash assistance to the senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs).

The mayor also said they want to promote organic farming and name Alegria as “Organic Vegetable Basket” in Cebu.

“I always invite my friends who are capable of investing in Alegria to come so we can provide more jobs to our people,” she said.

CIMP Country Manager Edgar Benedict Cutiongco told SunStar Cebu that they will sell the oil they are extracting to power plants at US$70 per barrel (or P3,668 based on yesterday’s dollar-peso exchange rate).

The amount, he said, is based on the price of oil in the world market.

For the oil field’s operation, Magallon said that the Municipal Goverment will create a committee that will be composed of the Municipal Government, Department of Energy, Environmental Management Bureau, and Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) for monitoring.

“We want to assure the environmentalists that the environment will not be destroyed while we are promoting development,” she said.