(Oct. 17, 2024) DENR Undersecretary Carlos Primo David at Digging Deeper: A Mining Policy Forum, an event organized by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines. [Photo by Marcelle P. Villegas]
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An Executive Order (E.O.) that will define and establish a policy on mining royalty is being drafted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), to be passed for approval by Malacañang.
At a recent Mining Philippines event, Digging Deeper: A Mining Policy Forum, Prof. Carlos Primo David, DENR Undersecretary for Integrated Sciences, spoke on behalf of DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga. The event was organized by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines with an objective to discuss current policy issues affecting the minerals development sector.
David is an expert in environmental science and is a licensed geologist.
During an ambush interview, he mentioned to journalists that the mining E.O. would be presented before the Office of the President to address some of the conflicting provisions in the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Local Government Code.
He also pointed out the issue of conflicting interpretations of the law on mining royalty which needs to be addressed through the E.O.
He clarified that such conflicting interpretations of the mining royalty, and complexities with LGUs and Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Cultural Communities often cause mining investors to be on a “wait-and-see” attitude.
He also noted that the E.O. is still a draft.
“For any royalty, you will have to put a ceiling. Because if there is no ceiling, it can be 1%, 2%, 10%, or up to 100%. That is something that we have to address,” he said.
He mentioned that what the law specifies right now is the minimum. The E.O. is not intended to replace any legislation.
“Any legislation needs another legislation, but the E.O. should correct some of the issues such as conflict with the I.R.R. and other provisions of the law, such as in the NCIP.”
For this matter, the DENR, the Office of the Secretary, and the Department of Finance (DOF) are collaborating on the drafting of the E.O.
David added that eventually, when a fiscal regime is passed by Congress, the E.O. is set aside.
Additionally, during the Mining Philippines event, he stated that the DENR’s initiative to launch digital application processing in 3 mining regions will reduce the waiting time for the approval of mining permits from 6 to 7 years to at least 2 years. The digital application will include CARAGA region and Davao.
The introduction of the digital application process will also help the DENR monitor the work flow and track the bottlenecks in the mining permit applications in various DENR Regional Offices. Managing the process digitally will, in the long run, propel the mining operations.
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Reference:
[1] (Oct. 17, 2024). Media release from Digging Deeper: A Mining Policy Forum. Chamber of Mines of the Philippines.
