An enhanced mining fiscal regime
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., or PBBM, recently signed into law Republic Act No. 12253, or the Enhanced Fiscal Regime for Large-Scale Metallic Mining Act, in simple ceremonies held at Malacañang.
The new piece of legislation modifies the tax and royalty structure for large-scale metallic mining operations to increase government revenue and ensure fairer profit sharing.
Key features of the new law include a new tiered royalty system, a windfall profits tax, a thin capitalization rule, and project-specific “ring-fencing.”
The law aims to simplify the tax system while making it more transparent, accountable, and responsive to environmental protection and national progress.
It likewise promotes transparency and accountability by, among others: authorizing the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs to audit mineral sales and exports; directing funds for research, environmental protection, and sustainable practices; and increasing the share of mining revenues for local government units.
In his speech during the signing ceremony, the President said that “With the signing of the Enhanced Fiscal Regime for Large-Scale Metallic Mining Act, we are putting into place a system that is fairer, that is clearer, and more responsive to the needs of both our people and the environment.”
PBBM mentioned that around the world, the demand for minerals is surging, and that these minerals are needed for the service — the new technologies — for batteries, solar panels, other vital components of clean energy.
He said that some even call these resources the building blocks of a green and digital economy, and that we are blessed because the Philippines is rich in such resources.
“If the world needs these minerals,” said the President, “then we must make sure that our mining infrastructure is robust and that Filipinos, above all, benefit from it.”
This milestone piece of legislation took a little more than a decade to be enacted.
The trigger was Executive Order No. 79 issued by the late President Benigno Aquino III, which provided, among others, that no new mineral agreements shall be entered into “until a legislation rationalizing existing revenue sharing schemes and mechanisms shall have taken effect.”
Measures back then were proposed in the House of Representatives, but they lay on the backburner for some time.
In 2018, the House passed on third and final reading House Bill No. 8400, principally authored by Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita Suansing, that sought to rationalize and create a single fiscal regime applicable to all mineral agreements. With the close of the 17th Congress, that bill was not passed into law under the Duterte administration.
With the change in administration and the signal from the Marcos government of its support for the revitalization of the mining industry and the need to put in place a viable fiscal regime that would generate more revenue for the government and the Filipino people, House Bill No. 8937 was passed by the House in 2023 under the 19th Congress.
This bill, seeking to enhance the fiscal regime for the mining industry, was sponsored by Rep. Joey Salceda of Albay (who also chaired the House Ways and Means Committee that pushed for the bill) and Rep. Mikaela Suansing of Nueva Ecija, to name a few.
The House Bill that became Senate Bill No. 2826, gained traction in 2024 when it was first taken up by the Sub-Committee under the Senate Ways and Committee, presided over by then Sen. Sonny Angara (who later became Education Secretary), then a series of hearings and technical working group meetings chaired by Sen. JV Ejercito who took over from Sen. Angara after his appointment to the Department of Education, until it was finally sponsored on the floor for second then third reading by Sen. JV.
In February 2025, the measure was passed by the Senate on third and final reading, which was then referred to the Bicameral Conference Committee.
In June 2025, the Bicameral Conference Committee report was approved by both Houses in separate sessions, and thus transmitted to Malacañang for consideration and signing by the President.
And the rest, as the old adage goes, is history.
The President himself said, in his speech, that “Gone are the days when a mining contractor can bury its profits beneath the weight of losses. No longer can we use the one project’s failure to conceal another project’s success.”
“Transparency is now the rule, accountability our standard, and fairness the measure by which we move forward,” he emphasized.
PBBM also said that “With this law, we send a very clear and powerful message: Progress shall never come at the cost of our people, nor our planet.”
He pointed out that “Minerals are finite. Once extracted, they are gone forever. But if we use them wisely — tax them fairly, protect our environment as we mine, and ensure that revenues return to the people — then their value will outlive all of us.”
In closing, the President made this call: “So, together, let us build the mining industry that is a transparent, and accountable, and sustainable industry — one where our communities are empowered, our environment preserved, and our people are the ultimate beneficiaries of this progress.”
He can count on the industry to do just that.
Oh, before I forget, the bill was signed into law on my birthday, Sept. 4, 2025.
That felt extremely good. *
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