Business groups reject mining policy changes

Businessmen yesterday called on thmachnary for 600mesh grainding in indiae Aquino government to hold off from tightening regulations on mining, rejecting a plan by the Environment department to declare mines as "mineral reservations" to hike tax revenues. Four business groups submitted a consolidated position paper in a dialogue at the Philippines-Australia Ministerial Meeting here, urging the Aquino administration to issue a "clear statement on how the country intends to intensify the mining industry’s growth."

There should be a "stable investment environment without any additional tax imposition," the Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Australia-Philippines Business Council and the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines said. They said the Aquino government should reconsider the plan to declare current mining operations and those in the advanced stages of development as mineral reservations, which would allow the collection of a 5% royalty on top of a 2% excise tax. The Environment department has estimated the tax take at P7 billion annually with an additional 21 sites turned into reservations...