MANILA, Philippines - Thirty three domestic mining oil and gas companies have joined the Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international standard for transparency in the reporting of revenues generated from the exploitation of natural resources, proponents of the initiative announced yesterday.
The initiative entails the voluntary disclosure of taxes and royalties paid by the extractive industry to the government and the revenue collection of the state from the industry. The declaration would be published in an annual report.
The report is meant to be used as a guide by investors to determine the viability of Philippine natural resources and by policy makers to determine the direct and indirect contributions of the extractive industry to the economy.
Mining firms that joined the initiative are Benguet Nickel Mines, Inc. Cagdianao Mining Corp., Hinatuan Mining Corp., Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp., Taganito Mining Corp., Carmen Copper Mining Corp., Filminera Mining Corp., Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corp., OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc., Philex Mining Corp., Philsaga Mining Corp., Platinum Group Metals Corp., TVI Resource Development, Zambales Diversified Metals Corp., CTP Construction Corp., Berong Nickel Corp., Eramen Minerals Inc., Apex Mining Co. Inc., Philippine Mining Development Corp., LNL Archipelago Minerals Inc., Leyte Iron Sand Mining Corp., SinoSteel Phils H.Y Mining Corp. Cambayas Mining Corp., Marcventures Mining and Development, Johnson Gold Mining Corp., Shenzhou Mining group Corp., Krominco Inc. and Oriental Synergy Mining Corp.
Oil and gas companies that joined the initiatives are: Shell Philippines Exploration B.V, Chevron Malampaya LLC, PNOC-Exploration Corp., Nido production Galoc Pty. Ltd. and Galoc Production Co.
In a briefing, representatives from the Philippine EITI said the companies have signed the taxpayer’s waiver issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), allowing the government to use their tax and royalty declarations in the upcoming EITI country report which would be released in December.
Signing the waiver expresses free consent to the EITI initiative and prevents the companies from pursuing legal action against the BIR for using their declarations in the report as the National Revenue Code prohibits the BIR from disclosing tax information.
“Transparency and openness in the government and business sectors are important factors in attracting further investor interest in the Philippines, If we are to develop our natural resources more effectively, we need to create a climate of clean governance and fair business policies,” finance assistant Secretary Ma. Teresa Habitan told reporters.
The Philippine EITI is multi stakeholder group setting the policies and directions for EITI implementation in the country. Represented in the initiative are the departments of Finance, Interior and Local Government, and the local government units.