Meeting set on proposed mining revenue scheme

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the President (OP) would meet with lawmakers on Sept. 1 to get the proposed mining revenue sharing scheme moving.

“It (proposed scheme) has to move but there is no deadline as to when it should be passed,” Mines and Geosciences Bureau director Leo Jasareno told reporters after the meeting of the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) at the Board of Investments last Friday. 

Last June, the MICC approved the scheme in which mining firms will have to remit to the government either 10 percent of the gross revenues or 55 percent of adjusted net mining revenues plus a percentage of the excess profit, whichever is higher.

The proposed scheme will apply to metallic mines put up under Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) and Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA).

At present, mining firms operating under an MPSA pay a two-percent excise tax on gross sales, as well as regular corporate income tax, business tax and payments for indigenous people affected by the mining operations. Those operating in mineral reservation areas pay an additional five-percent royalty. 

Firms with FTAA contracts meanwhile, share 50 percent of their revenues with the government. 

Following the MICC’s approval, the proposed scheme was sent to Malacañang for endorsement to Congress.

Amid concerns raised on the proposed revenue-sharing scheme, Jasareno said the MICC will be holding a dialogue with the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP).

“Part of our protocol is to continue engaging with them,” he said. 

The COMP said earlier the proposed revenue-sharing scheme will make the local mining industry uncompetitive and discourage investments as the country currently imposes the highest mining tax rates in the world. 

The MICC, a joint committee of the Economic Development Cluster and the Climate Change Cluster, was created by Executive