Noteworthy development

Recent weeks have seen many uncertainties in the world. In today’s article, I would like to focus on a noteworthy development which feel will increase prospects for local economic growth, especially in Mindanao. This involves the enactment into law of Republic Act 12253, establishing a revised fiscal regime for metallicmines. Why does this matter for local economies?

- 

First of all, it must be noted that legal mining activities utilize minerals as local natural resources to generate wealth and revenue. Mining projects are technically government-sanctioned projects since mineral production sharing agreements and other mining permits are instruments that stipulate that the government earnsa share of the earnings from such activities.

Unlike other types of government contracts, the government does not pay the mining company to extract these minerals. Rather, it gets a share of the proceeds of the minerals extracted by the miners. This agreement and rules onthe sharing of revenues, among other things, is the basis of the fiscal regime in mining.