On June 30, the government officially transitioned to a new administration that came with a promise of change. A national expenditure program and some executive orders later, change has become more and more apparent to Filipinos at large.
In August, for instance, a Citizens’ Complaint Hotline was launched to serve as a 24/7 grievance redress channel. This would later be institutionalized along with the establishment of a Complaint Center through an Executive Order.
MANILA, Philippines – The government is looking to fasttrack the draft bill for the revenue sharing scheme of the mining industry, a cabinet official said. “As soon as possible, we’d like to come up (with the draft bill) so we can lessen the anxiety of the industry. We don’t want the industry to be anxious about it,” Trade secretary Gregory Domingo told reporters. He said the draft bill being crafted by the Environment, Finance andTrade departments, is close to completion with just one administrative matter left to be decided by the Mining Industry Coordinating Council(MICC). The MICC, a joint committee of the Economic Development Cluster and the Climate Change Cluster created by Executive Order 79 or the miningpolicy released in 2012, has approved in principle the revenue-sharing scheme which will provide the government a higher tax take from mining activities. Domingo said under the approved scheme, mining firms will have to pay taxes based on a certain percentage of gross or net revenues, whichever is higher. He said the government will also get a share when a mining firm gets extraordinary profit from its operations, like in times of high metal prices.“It starts when their profit exceeds a certain level,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 At present, mining firms pay taxes depending on their contract with the government. A Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement for mining requires 50-50 sharing of revenues between the firm and the government.A Mineral Production Sharing Agreement meanwhile, specifies a Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The early revival of the Padcal operations of Philex Mining Corp. is expected to benefit the National Treasury as well as the Social Security System (SSS), which has some P18.7 billion invested in the 58-year-old mining giant, a leader of the House of Representatives said yesterday. Due to unusually heavy rains brought about by typhoons Ferdie and Gener, Philex voluntarily shut its Padcal mine on Aug. 1, 2012, following leakage from a tailings pond in Itogon, Benguet. “Philex deserves ample support, so it may complete the rehabilitation and cleanup of areas affected by a tailings pond spill, and hopefully resume operations as soon as possible,” House Deputy Majority Leader and Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo said in a statement. “Philex is the mining industry’s biggest taxpayer. The eventual restart of its Padcal operations will give more meaning to President Aquino’s desire to increase government’s tax income from mining,” he said. Malacañang previously issued Executive Order 79, series of 2012, which seeks “to improve environmental standards and increase (government) revenues to promote sustainable economic development and social growth, both at the national and local levels.” The lawmaker said based on Philippine Stock Exchange filings, Philex shelled out some P5.64 billion in taxes over the last three years, of which P2.38 billion was paid in 2011 alone, when the firm posted record-high production and sales of copper and gold. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 That year, the Bureau of Internal Revenue ranked Philex as the mining Read More …