PHILIPPINES Trends and Developments Contributed by: Patricia A O Bunye and Rafael Raymundo A Evangelista, Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia
nologies and industries has long been identified as a mineral-intensive endeavour from which the Philippines may benefit and has the potential to become a significant player in the clean energy value chain. The transition toward green energy is expected to increase the demand for critical metallic min - erals, such as nickel, copper, cobalt and other rare earth metals, all of which may be found in abundance in the untapped mineral deposits in the country. With this, the Philippine min - ing sector is poised to drive the transition to green technologies with its abundant mineral resources. According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the coun - try’s reserve of critical minerals could fuel green technologies and create a wave of high-quality employment opportunities for Filipinos. During the Mining Forum organised by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in collaboration with the Stratbase ADR Insti - tute on revitalising the Philippine mining indus - try held in May 2024, NEDA Secretary Arsenio M Balisacan underscored the underutilised but immense potential of the mining sector despite the industry’s modest contribution to the gross domestic product. Key economic thinkers of the NEDA believe that there is room for significant growth once potential is realised. It was pointed out that the majority of the country’s mineral exports are raw or unprocessed, which results in foregone opportunities to maximise the benefits from our mineral output in producing technologies that other economies demand. It was suggested that this can be achieved through development of the metallic and non-metallic downstream industries to catalyse the development of domestic manu - facturing industries focused on green technolo - gies.
Significant challenges were identified which impede the growth of the mineral industry. Sec - retary Balisacan highlighted the limited number of mineral processing plants, lack of substantial capital inputs, high operating costs due to high electricity costs and unstable policy environment governing the mining sector. To address these, Secretary Balisacan empha - sised that the government would provide support to local industries for research and development and commercialisation of green technologies. He also mentioned that reforms will be implemented to reduce the cost of electricity and logistics to create a conducive business environment for investments in the green industries. He further reiterated that the government is actively col - laborating with pertinent agencies to fast-track the creation of a suitable tax regime for the min - ing sector and for the institutionalisation of the Philippine Extractive Industry Transparency Ini - tiative (PH-EITI). During the 2023 PMIEA ceremony, President Marcos also recognised that the Philippines is in a prime position to supply in-demand critical minerals in light of the promising opportunities from the green technology initiatives. However, President Marcos is aware that these may end up becoming missed opportunities if certain barriers are not addressed in due time, some of which are bureaucratic roadblocks and gov - ernment policy uncertainties. President Marcos also said that the government needs to invest in resources that will boost mineral processing in the country. Call for Simplified Mining Fiscal Regime The mineral wealth of the Philippines remains largely untapped. Out of the estimated 30 mil - lion hectares of total land area, around nine mil - lion hectares have a high mineral potential. Only
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