Philippines lifts 9-year-old ban on new mines to boost revenues
15 April, 2021
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has lifted a moratorium on new mineral agreements imposed in 2012, reopening the door to fresh mining investments as he seeks to boost state revenues to fund infrastructure projects and other initiatives.
Duterte has issued an executive order which allows the government to enter agreements for new mining projects and undertake an assessment of existing mining contracts and agreements for possible renegotiation of the terms.
The moratorium have been imposed as the government done legislation to boost the state's share of mining revenues in another of the world's top producers of nickel, copper and gold.
Under a tax reform law that took effect in 2018, the excise tax on minerals, mineral products and quarry resources has been doubled to 4 %.
The executive order, made public by the presidential palace on Thursday but signed a day earlier, directs the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to formulate the conditions and conditions in the brand new mineral agreements in order to maximise government revenues.
The department, however, can be tasked with strictly implementing rules on mine safety and environmental policies with the lifting of the ban.
The resources-rich Southeast Asian country is currently the biggest supplier of nickel ore to top metals consumer China, though significantly less than 5 % of its reserves of most minerals are estimated to have already been extracted so far.
Mining is a highly contentious issue in the Philippines after past cases of environmental mismanagement have fuelled a strong lobby against the industry led by local governments, legislators, advocacy groups and the Catholic church.
Duterte, who had soon after arriving at office in 2016 warned miners to follow tighter environmental rules or be shut down, has upheld a ban on new open pit mines, despite a push by senior officials to soften the policy.
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