Camarines Sur-based congressmen are pushing for the swift passage of a consolidated bill seeking the guarantee of a fairer share of revenues from mining to the national government.

The measure, which was recently approved by the House Committee on Ways and Means and endorsed to the plenary, also pursues better protection to the environment as well as to local communities hosting big miners.

The solons led by Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte said the measure provides for the establishment of a novel Natural Resources Trust Fund to bankroll projects of local government units (LGUs) in mining communities, such as for rehabilitating abandoned mines in these localities.

The ways and means panel had approved a consolidated bill in support of the proposal of the Department of Finance (DOF) for a new, single fiscal regime for all current and future mines, regardless of location, and that raised the tax rate for big-time miners from the current 38 percent to 51 percent, in a bid to raise P37.5 billion in mining taxes in this proposal’s first full year of implementation.

“This committee-endorsed bill also contains provisions that aim to set the government’s share from mining at a minimum 60 percent of revenues, require miners to publicly disclose their revenues and taxes, and prevent them from engaging in transfer pricing for the purpose of tax avoidance,” Villafuerte, a former deputy speaker, said.

Villafuerte earlier introduced House Bill (HB) 2014, which was one of several measures incorporated into the consolidated bill.

In HB 2014, Villafuerte and his co-authors proposed that the revenues collected from the royalty fee to be paid by large-scale mining operations shall partly accrue to a Natural Resource Trust Fund.

“This proposed new and uniform fiscal regime seeks to maximize the economic contribution of big mining by guaranteeing the government a fairer share of revenues from this sector even as it ensures better protection for the environment and for local communities hosting miners,” said the National Unity Party (NUP) president.

Villafuerte said the panel-approved bill also “aims to achieve more responsible-mining practices and better corporate governance by promoting full transparency in the miners’ generated revenues and tax payments, and introducing a mechanism to stop the possibly unscrupulous ones from resorting to tax avoidance".

“Given that our natural resources are non-renewable or finite, we have to make sure that we optimize the economic benefits from big mining for the government, for our people and for the host-communities even as we try to protect our environment and encourage our miners to engage in better corporate or shared responsibility,” he added.

The consolidated bill mandates the imposition of a 5 percent royalty tax on the market value of the gross output of large-scale metallic mining.

Under HB 2014, the proposed fund to be taken from the royalty fees shall be remitted to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) within the first quarter of the succeeding income year, and shall be used by LGUs for projects beneficial to provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays directly affected by mining operations.

The Villafuerte bill provides that the fund “shall be used by the LGUs concerned to support educational programs, technological research programs of local relevance, disaster risk management, rehabilitation of abandoned mines before the enactment of the 'Philippine Mining Act of 1995', and health service programs of the communities directly affected by mining activities".

However, the bill directs the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), in consultation with the DOF and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), to issue rules and regulations governing the allocation and disbursement of this proposed Fund for provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays, within 180 days from the effectivity of this Act.

The BTr shall, under HB 2014, create a Special Account for the Fund and serve as its fund manager.

Villafuerte's three co-authors are Camarines Sur Reps. Miguel Luis Villafuerte (5th district) and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata (1st district), and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Nicolas Enciso VIII.