This administration is so bipolar it is hard to make any call on...

This administration is so bipolar it is hard to make any call on the revenue sharing portion of the policy. Should I be surprised? Of course not.

So most recently, as of this week we have Paje saying increased revenue streams from MPSA's won't be retroactive.

'"We will just impose the new [revenue sharing] measures on new projects," Environment Secretary Ramon Jesus P. Paje told BusinessWorld on Wednesday.

While declining to elaborate, Mr. Paje said the proposal to implement new taxes on existing projects may be problematic.

"As contracts involve legalities, the government does not want to risk committing any illegal acts," he said.

Mr. Paje had previously said the government was hoping to increase its share of revenues from 32 operating mines through a new mining policy"'

OK. So the previous position looks to have changed, yet we know that Pres BS has called for it to be retroactive citing Australia's MRRT and Indo's scale back policy. Hmmm. I've been eying a number of puts lined up for this . Too hard to call now. This could keep backflipping. I won't commit money to it unless I see an "early release" of the policy.

I'll wade into the uncertainty by saying that whatever happens, IRN's current revenue predictions should remain unaffected - confidence is mainly due to the fact that they have an FTAA type tenure not an MPSA.


As an aside, IRN hopefulls will be interested in this comment from Paje:

"National laws should also take precedence over local laws, he said, but maintained that in the case of the Tampakan project, the resolution of the issue has to undergo due process."

Which is exactly what I've been warning all along - the policy has no process. What does "undergo due process" mean - 5 years, 10 years or another 15?

I just want to see approvals moving again. Five years is a long enough vacation.


All contained in this article:

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=TopStory&title=Policy-on-mining-revenue-won’t-be-retroactive----Paje&id=52745