Robredo agrees on direct payment by mining firms to LGUs

DAVAO CITY—Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said he agreed with the proposal of the Chamber of Mines to pay excise tax directly to the host local governments “to remove many of the irritants that have plagued the industry.”

Robredo, however, said this might need an amendment to the Mining Act of 1995. “I believe this would mean changes in the law. But it would be up to the Department of Finance to determine that,” he said.

In a meeting last week with government and nongovernmental leaders of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at the Pinnacle Hotel here, Robredo said change is long overdue “because it has been the common complaints of our mayors and governors that they have to wait for a long time to get their share of the mining revenues.”

In many cases, he said, some of these LGUs had to impose their own taxes, which he believed would not encourage the mining companies.

In proposing the direct payment to LGUs, Chamber of Mines President Benjamin Philip Romualdez noted that host communities often waited for three years to get their share. For many years, this has been “a cause for concern” of local officials, who openly showed their “skeptical attitude” by tolerating or even encouraging small-scale mining companies to operate in the concession of the big mining companies.

Last week’s expanded meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC) here turned into a discussion on mining instead of other economic issues after RDC Chairman Vicente Lao, in response to question, said the LGUs’ demand for their share and the environmental opposition to corporate mining have slowed down the schedule of operations of mining companies.

He said the Minerals Policy Group was already appraised of the various concerns raised by corporate mines after a meeting last month in Malacañang when it was formed.

As to the environment opposition, Lao appealed “not to kill the industry, because like many of us, the government is on the side of responsible mining.”

“We have lost our chance in logging. So please let mining give us the benefit that the industry promises,” he said, adding that the RDC has already taken the position of favoring mining.
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By: Manuel T. Cayon
Source: Business Mirror, Nov. 22, 2011
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