1st half Congress OK eyed for mining bill

A Palace official said the draft measure on the proposed regime would hopefully get the green light from President Benigno S.C. Aquino III “as soon as possible to give both chambers [of Congress] ample time to work on it” as the government steps up efforts to finally get the bill, which has been in the works since 2012, enacted.

The proposed law’s approval will be opportune for the mining industry, as issuance of new operating permits has been suspended pending the new fiscal regime, with the government bent on getting a larger, more equitable share of the industry’s revenues.

Asked for updates on the bill, Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Secretary Manuel N. Mamba replied in a text message last week that the “Administration draft bill still with OP (Office of the President) awaiting approval. We are hopeful that we will have this as soon as possible. Committee deliberation in both chambers suspended awaiting administration draft.”

Pressed further, he said the Executive has reiterated to Congress that “the window of opportunity to work on the bills is up to the end of the second regular session of this Congress.” The second regular session of the 16th Congress ends on June 11. The Senate and the House of Representatives will resume session after the President’s final State of the Nation Address in July that will start the third and last regular session of this Congress.

Malacañang regards the rationalization of the mining fiscal regime as one of its legislative priorities for both the second and third regular sessions of the current Congress, and included it in the list of 29 priority bills submitted to Congress in June last year.

Leo L. Jasareno, director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), last year said the new scheme under the draft measure approved by the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) and submitted to the Palace last June consisted of a 55-45 sharing agreement, with the larger portion going to the state. It would also allow the government to levy either a 10% tax on gross revenues or get 55% of firms’ adjusted net mining revenues, depending on which is higher. A percentage of windfall profits will also be taxed.

Asked yesterday whether changes were introduced, Mr. Jasareno, who is a member of the MICC, said by phone: “The answer lies in the result of the presentation to be made by the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) to the Office of the President.”

He said the briefing, scheduled last Tuesday, was canceled.

The interagency MICC is tasked to implement Executive Order 79, signed by President Benigno S.C. Aquino III in July 2012, which mandates reforms in the mining sector, including the crafting of a new revenue regime.

Lawmakers yesterday committed to speed up approval of the bill.

Asked if Malacañang’s deadline was realistic, House Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr., replied: “We will prioritize it. It is a very important bill that has been pending with the Executive for several years; meanwhile, illegal mining goes on,” adding that the Executive should submit the draft bill to Congress “next week at least” in order to meet the target.

But Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said in an interview yesterday: “There is no rule of thumb. You never know how long the interpellation will be. No one can say [when the bill will be approved].”

Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, chairman of the Senate’s ways and means committee, said via text: “[T]he leadership of both houses has prioritized the bills on the mining regime taxes… It’s difficult to set a timetable for approval, but certainly they will move faster between now and June.”

House natural resources committee chairman Rep. Francisco T. Matugas of Surigao del Norte (1st district) said separately: “If it’s there and if it will be certified as urgent, we can. If not, that will undergo usual process. It will take time with the opposition.”

While the measure awaits approval, Mr. Jasareno said the MICC last month submitted to Malacañang a proposal for the grant of operating permits to those firms with mines in “advanced predevelopment stages” that agree to revenue sharing not less than what the draft bill proposes. “Some firms have already said they are willing to pay what we’re proposing.” —with Melissa Luz T. Lopez and Alden M. Monzon