The Senate approved on its third and final reading the bill seeking to exempt small-scale miners who sell their gold to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
Senate Bill No. 2127, also known as the Act to Strengthen the Country’s Gross International Reserves (GIR), received 12 votes of approval with zero negative votes and abstentions.
This bill, when finally made into law, will amend sections 32 and 151 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC). With this, registered small-scale miners and accredited traders will have tax exemptions on their gold sales to BSP providing these small players income.
Under the Republic Act No. 7076 or the People’s Small Scale Mining Act of 1991, the central bank of the country is compelled to purchase gold from small-scale miners alongside other sources.
The proponent of the bill Senate ways and means committee chair Sonny Angara said in a statement that the proposed measure will help the BSP to increase their GIR especially after its lowest level since 2011 was recorded at US $ 74.8 billion for October in 2018.
“It would be far more prudent if we work towards deepening our international reserves, instead of focusing on collecting rather shallow revenues from gold sales. The first undoubtedly overshadows the latter – considering the social impact of returning to the formal sector the sale of gold from small-scale mining,” he also said.
The bill is also expected to help small-scale miners gain fair pricing for their gold by selling to the BSP instead to the black market where prices were below market levels.
House Bill No. 3297, the counterpart of the senate bill, was approved on third and final reading on October 8 last year.
