Dominguez clarifies ownership of Philex Mining shares

Finance Secretary Carlos "Sonny" Dominguez on Tuesday clarified that the Philex Mining Corp. shares listed in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net-worth (SALN) were actually his son's. 

 

In a press briefing in Malacañang, Dominguez explained that the 5,000 mining shares he acquired in 1967 was a gift from his mother to his son.  

 

"I think it was 5,000 shares ah to my son. And we haven’t transferred it to his name yet," said the DOF secretary. "That (1967) is the date when my son was born. My mother had some shares… By the way, she’s 93 years old already. I don’t think she remembers some shares she has. I’m not sure she has anymore. But she gave my son a gift when he was born."

 

Dominguez added that the shares were put under his name because his son was still a minor then. "And I don’t know, we forgot to transfer it to his name. He is over 40 already so," he said. 

 

Mining involvement

 

Dominguez also clarified that he had no affiliation with Tampakan Mining, emphasizing that he had gotten involved in mining just twice in his life. 

 

"The first one was not even mining. I was the CEO of PASAR, which is a copper smelter located in Leyte," he said. 

 

"The second time I was involved in mining was when the mine called Rapu-Rapu, which was managed by foreigners, had a spill. The foreign stockholders asked me to put a team together to remediate, to fix up the mine so that they could operate again. So I took on the job, I put a team together, we worked very hard. And in two years, from 2006 to 2008, we fixed up what was wrong with the mine and they operated again," he added. 

 

"After that, I have not been involved in mining, either in the management or as a shareholder or in any other capacity. So I am not involved in any mine at the moment," Dominguez explained. — DVM, GMA News