MANILA -- Government wants to simplify taxes for mining businesses in the Philippines, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Thursday.

Speaking on ANC's Market Edge, Diokno said he thinks the rationalization of the mining fiscal regime is the most important tax measure they are pushing for.

"If you remember, mining was closed during the previous administration. And to me, that’s a lost opportunity so, but this administration opened up mining so we have an extra leg to depend on for our economy," he said.

Diokno noted, however, that investments in mining won't come in until the government has clarified what the mining fiscal regime is going to be.

"I think we want to unify the mining tax, simplify because there is discrimination between those which are already mature and those (which) are still being developed," Diokno said.

"So we are going to simplify it, I think lower the tax, and so hopefully it will attract a lot of mining," he said.

"I think we are [the] number one exporter in nickel, currently, and we have the potential to also export a lot of copper. SO, But, in addition, we want to develop the industry itself, and this is very relevant because of now the focus on electric vehicles," Diokno said of the proposal.

"So we want to make sure that additional value added is created as a result of this opening of the mining industry," he explained.

--ANC, 7 December 2023

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