House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is pushing for a bill that would totally ban open-pit mining in the country, saying it’s in accordance with the stance of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Arroyo made the announcement during a Ways and Means Committee hearing on Thursday on the proposed imposition of higher taxes and royalties on the mining sector.
“We will have a bill expressly prohibiting open-pit mining. That is a priority of President Duterte,” said Arroyo.
During the hearing, she said former government executive and now Chamber of Mines board member Gloria Tan-Climaco told her the proposed mining law was not Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez’s priority.
Arroyo explained the lower chamber will come up with a mining bill as it is the President’s “priority” although it is not “his (Dominguez’s) priority.”
ABS-CBN.com reported Arroyo also proposed imposing excise taxes on firms operating open pit mines until they stop using such a method “within the period prescribed by the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources).”
In the consolidated bill the committee would draft, she said the lower house will define open-pit mining based on the Department Administrative Order (DAO) 2018-19 issued by Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu last month.
The former president told the finance secretary to submit his department’s proposal in three days, which she said will be included in the House’s version of the new mining bill.
Arroyo also noted the house version will also include a provision on the imposition of royalty fees on mining companies with operations outside mine reservations.
Mining Tax
Meanwhile, a mining industry executive said the Philippines might risk losing existing and potential investments in the mining sector if the government’s latest tax reform proposal pushes through.
Inquirer.net reported that according to Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) chair and Nickel Asia Corp. President and CEO Gerard H. Brimo, mining operations in the country would become costlier as firms might lose investments.
Under the government’s second tax reform package dubbed the TRABAHO bill, the government proposes to impose a 5 percent royalty on all mining operations.
“You cannot expect investors to come here under that tax structure … Everybody thinks we are making a lot of money but reality is, we are not. Some of us are losing money for the last two years,” Brimo was quoted as saying in the Inquirer report.
He also pointed out “big mines” could close down as a result of the new tax proposal.
