Tuesday, December 20, 2016

New mining revenue sharing scheme pushed



 (The Philippine Star) |

MANILA, Philippines - Failure by the last Congress to enact a new revenue sharing and taxation scheme for the mining industry presents an opportunity for determining new tax rates, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said yesterday.
In an address delivered at the Dissemination Forum on the Mineral Asset Accounts of the Philippines, Pernia said the completion by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) of the new physical and monetary asset accounts for major Philippine mineral exports gold, copper, nickel and chromite would help the government assess the current policies in the mining sector.
“One critical use of the mineral accounts is in the analysis for an appropriate fiscal regime. However, the bill on fiscal regime and revenue sharing agreement was not enacted in the 16th Congress,” he said. “Thus, this is a great opportunity to revisit and put forward new calculations for an appropriate tax rate that will be levied on mining companies.”
The newly-completed mineral accounts, said Pernia, would guide the country’s economic planners in determining growth and development strategies for the mining sector.
“The results of the mineral accounts project could not have come at a better time, as we are now in the process of formulating our Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022. The mineral accounts will guide us in the identification of the strategies in the mining sector,” he said.
The Duterte administration, he said, wants to strike a balance between having a responsible mining environment and enhancing the contribution of the extractive industry to the country’s economic output.
 “If properly utilized, these (mineral accounts) will be useful in formulating policy recommendations on how to operationalize responsible mining in the country,” he said.
Citing data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), Pernia said the mining sector currently has a 0.7 percent contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and comprises 5.6 percent of the total exports.
From 2011 to 2015, the sector was also a robust provider of employment, creating an average of 236,400 jobs annually during the reference period.
“Considering its small contribution to the economy and the contentious debate on mining and its links with issues on land-use, environment and social acceptability, the question for us is: How can we harness the full potential of the country’s mineral resources to contribute to economic growth, generate employment, and reduce poverty,” said Pernia.
The local mining industry has always faced various challenges among which are proliferation of illegal small-scale mining activities, limited number of processing plants to add value to mineral products, and lack of an efficient revenue collection that would ensure an equitable and of income from mining to the proper beneficiaries.
The past four years, however, have been especially difficult for the industry striving to attain its full potential. In 2012, the Aquino administration imposed a moratorium on the approval of new mining contracts pending the passage into law of a new revenue sharing scheme between the government and mining companies.
Higher taxes sought by the previous administration are viewed by the industry with trepidation as this is seen to make the industry uncompetitive, driving operational mines out of business and preventing the opening of new projects.
The transfer of power to the Duterte administration dealt another blow to the industry after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), under new secretary Gina Lopez, launched an audit of the operations of 40 metallic mines, suspending 10 companies in the process.
In between cracking down on illicit operations, the government over the past four years also introduced several reforms that would help the industry survive the tumult. These include legitimizing the operations of qualified small scale miners by lumping them together in so-called Minahang Bayan sites which operate under strict environmental controls as well as allowing existing projects to expand operating areas to enable existing companies to survive.
Pernia supports the ongoing audit conducted by the DENR and said further reforms in existing policies are needed to enable the sector to become an effective contributor to the economy.
“We laud the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) efforts towards truly responsible mining in the country through its ongoing mining audits,” he said. “We in NEDA believe that it is necessary to implement further policy reforms to enable the mining sector (to) realize its full potential and increase its role in nation building.”

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