MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines may soon feel the backlash of the ongoing issues surrounding the closure and suspension of mining companies in its global competitiveness rankings, the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) said.
NCC private sector co-chairman Guillermo Luz told The STAR the decision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to close 23 mine sites and suspend five others may affect the country’s standing in some global reports, particularly those that include rule of law, contracts and formation of public policy as indicators.
“Any area which affects investor interest is obviously an area of concern for us. Definitely, you can see the impact on the mining sector. Obviously, they are very concerned,” Luz said.
“People are watching. On the mining issue, that caused people to ask questions about has there been proper due process in the way the closures have been announced. You have to remember, in that particular industry, all those approvals are approvals by the government and contracts with the government,” he added.
The NCC monitors 12 international competitiveness surveys that ranks countries globally in terms of various measures. According to Luz, some reports due to come out late in the year are usually starting to gather data from each country as early as the start of the year.
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