“We assure the President that COMP members in CARAGA and nationwide are committed to rehabilitate mined out areas to comply with existing mining laws,” COMP chairman Artemio Disini said. “The President and the Mining Industry Coordinating Council, co-chaired by Department of Finance SecretarySonny Dominguez 3rd, vowed to follow due process in the audit review,” Disini noted. In the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-COMP joint stakeholders forum last Friday, COMP president Philip Romualdez expressed his optimism about the minerals industry under the Duterte administration, citing the president’s adherence to the rule of law. COMP, the industry lobby group, alleged that Lopez “is slowly killing an industry that has faithfully paid billions in taxes and fees annually.”The mining industry paid P10.1 billion in tax revenues to the government in 2015. The mining operations ordered closed down or suspended account for 46 percent or P4.6 billion of these tax revenues, COMP said.

Source: Manila Times February 13, 2017 16:29 UTC