Investors jittery over mining Executive Order
"The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC), along with the Philippine Mining and Exploration Association Inc. (PMEA), has expressed “great” concern over the proposed mining reforms, appealing to the Aquino administration to consider industry inputs and to address the root causes of project delays, among other issues. ...
"Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, however, assured mining investors there was no cause for alarm.Paje headed the group that proposed the reforms in the as yet unsigned executive order, titled “Institutionalizing and Implementing Reforms in the Philippine Mining Sector, Providing Policies and Guidelines Therefor, and for Other Purposes.”
"In a phone interview on Saturday, Paje said: “There is nothing in there that is not already in existing contracts. We are using existing guidelines.”
"“We are just optimizing the provisions to upgrade the environmental standards in the industry, resolve the issue of small-scale mining, harmonize national and local regulations on mining and optimize government revenue from mining,” he said."
