Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima. AFP
The Aquino administration wants the government to get its “fair share” of the revenues generated from the mining industry amounting to more than a trillion pesos.
“The goal of President Aquino is to make doing business in the Philippines more efficient, easier for businessmen, in particular those who are not as familiar as local businessmen,” Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in a news briefing in Malacañang.
Purisima said the mining industry was one of the areas that could help accelerate the country’s economic growth.
“Unfortunately in the past, the way the laws were implemented, it was not a true win-win situation where the government actually was not able to get its fair share from mining activities,” Purisima said.
The finance secretary said total tax collection from the mining industry amounted to only a little over P2 billion while the country’s total revenue was over P1.2 trillion.
“So when you look at that and, at the same time, the impact to the communities that host it and the environment adjacent to it, you really have to ask yourself whether the way we’re implementing it is what we describe as a responsible way of harnessing the wealth of the country,” Purisima said.
“We are looking at various models, alternatives in the hope that this can be done so that all the interests of the different sectors are addressed,” he added.