New Mining Policy Out Soon?

Malacanang is expected to release its new mining policy this week. The controversial drafts–several versions were leaked in February–have caused an uproar among mining community and business groups since the new policy imposes changes in the middle of the game.

The leaked executive order (RO) calls for, among others, higher revenue collections from miners and environmental policies that miners said are skewed toward  other stakeholder groups’ interests. The mining and investment communities also said they only had 2 hours with Malacanang’s core group, while the environmentalists and mining critics had abundant time spent with the policy makers.

On March 2, a mining forum was held in a packed hotel ballroom where different sides and various issues were raised. In social media, #WhyMining trended on Twitter for hours here and in the world.

How will Malacanang’s final position address this hot topic?

Watch replay of the mining forum on Rappler.

Read Philippine Stock Exchage’s position on the mining issue.