PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Patricia A O Bunye and Rafael Raymundo A Evangelista, Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia
The material information may constitute data relating to: • economic impacts, such as employee wages and benefits, community investments and procurement practices; • environmental impacts, such as energy and water consumption, materials used, opera - tional sites near protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas, air emissions and solid and hazardous wastes; and • social impacts, such as employee benefits, equal opportunities at the workplace, and customer privacy and data security. The SEC plans to release revised SR Guide - lines, where PLCs are mandated to submit a Sustainability Report Form (the “SuRe Form”). The form covers three major sections: first is the Sustainability and Climate-related Oppor - tunities and Risks Exposures, where the PLC rates the impact of climate and sustainability- related risks to its business model; second is the Cross-Industry Standard Metrics, where the PLC discloses its metrics and targets for physi - cal, transition and sustainability risks; and third is the Industry-Specific Metrics, guidelines for which the SEC has yet to release. The SuRe Form must be submitted annually through the Electronic Filing and Submission Tool System of the SEC. Failure to submit will result in a reprimand for the first offence, fol - lowed by fines ranging from PHP50,000 to PHP1 million for subsequent offences. The SuRe Form seeks to enhance the standard of sustainability reporting and uphold the uni - formity of non-financial information submitted by PLCs.
In October 2023, the SEC released a copy of the draft revised SR Guidelines for PLCs to pro - vide comments or feedback. The deadline for submitting comments was on 16 October 2023. Presently, the SEC has not yet issued the final version of the updated SR Guidelines. Under the current Strategic Investment Priori - ties Plan (SIPP), incentives such as income tax holidays are granted to environment- or climate change-related projects, such as manufacturing of electronic vehicles, energy efficient maritime vessels bioplastics, etc. Furthermore, the Mining Act allows exemption from real property tax and other taxes or assess - ments of pollution-control devices. Businesses generating green jobs or jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the quality of the environment may avail of an income tax deduction of 50% of the total expenses for skills training and research development expenses, which is above the allowable ordinary and nec - essary business deductions, under the Philip - Illegal mining is a significant issue in the Philip - pines, affecting both large-scale and small-scale operations. Companies engaged in illegal min - ing do not comply with government regulations and their negative consequences are observed in several areas. Economically, illegally mined areas are depleted of mineral resources which could have been allocated to legitimate mining contractors, from whom the government could have derived income in the form of taxes. Envi - ronmental, social and safety concerns also arise, as illegal mining operations are not subject to regulatory monitoring and do not comply with pertinent rules and regulations. pine Green Jobs Act. 2.8 Illegal Mining
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