Big miners seek dialog with government

MANILA, Philippines - Big mining firms are seeking a dialogue with the government to thresh out revisions to the implementing rules and regulations of mining which they claim are still full of “constitutional infirmities” and not conducive to private investment or doing business in the country.

“The Mining Council came up with these revisions which we feel are not enough…It is still our position that there’s a need to sit down with them and come up with a list of recommendations for every provision of the IRR where we have concerns,” said Philex Mining senior vice president for corporate affairs Mike Toledo on the sidelines of The Asset forum Tuesday.

Toledo said the industry may take the issue all the way to the courts should both parties fail to come up with an acceptable solution.

“Hopefully we can come up with a workable solution to this, otherwise, we will have no recourse but to question it in court,” he said.

In particular, the industry has objected to Sec. 9 of the IRR which, according to Toledo, violates the constitutional provision protecting the sanctity of contracts.

“We need to carefully study this provision. It doesn’t only affect the mining industry but also on doing business,” Toledo said.

Sec. 9 imposes a bidding scheme in the renewal of mining contracts after the first 25 years of a tenement, effectively shortening the maximum 50-year period for projects.

It further states that in the case of expiring 25-year mining tenements, “the mining contract/agreement that may be renewed shall be subject to new terms and conditions pursuant to the laws, rules and regulations that are existing at the time of the renewal.”

Chamber of Mines president Philip Romualdez said the country has been losing out on foreign direct investments amounting to over P10 billion since the moratorium on new mining contracts was implemented in 2011.

He said the ongoing challenges in the mining industry, including local government ordinances that banned mining or methods such as open pit mining, and high investment requirements amid high political risks, were hampering investments at a time when the government was seeking more revenue from the sector.