Benguet Small-Scale Miners Urged to Sell Metallic Minerals to BSP

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is persuading small-scale miners to do their trading with the agency as it is legal and they are assured of the commensurate payment with the proper assessment of their gold and other metallic mineral products.

BSP-La Union Director Rogel Joseph del Rosario said that small-scale miners used to bring their ore products to the BSP but are now trading their items at the black market when the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) imposed the five percent withholding tax on sale of gold and other metallic minerals to the BSP.

Investopedia defines black market as where economic activity takes place outside government-sanctioned channels and participants avoid government price controls or taxes. Trading is very accessible to them as black market traders go directly to their area and buy the mineral products.

Del Rosario explained before small-scale mining industry stakeholders in the province in a recent Jaime V. Ongoing Foundation, Inc.-led forum, that BIR reduced the BSP’s obligation as withholding agent of the creditable withholding tax on mineral sales from a rate of five percent to one percent, plus the two percent excise tax due. These imposed taxes go to the coffers of the government for development projects, he stressed.

He assured that with the proper assay test, BSP is able to determine the minerals present in the ores which may contain not only gold but silver as well. BSP is following international standards and the miners are assured of the appropriate payments, he added.

Mines and Geosciences Bureau data recorded an estimated 10,000 small-scale miners in the province but the Benguet federation of small-scale miners said there are around 20,000 of them.