FINANCE Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that the government is looking to simplify the taxes for mining businesses in the Philippines.

At the ABS-CBN News Channel, Diokno narrated that the rationalization of the mining fiscal regime is part of the most important tax measure that they are batting for.

"If you remember, mining was closed during the previous administration. And to me, that’s a lost opportunity, but this administration opened up mining so we have an extra leg to depend on for our economy," he said.

However, Diokno said that the investments in mining is still at the door and will come in only after the government clarified what the mining fiscal regime is going to be. 

"I think we want to unify the mining tax, simplify because there is discrimination between those which are already mature and those (which) are still being developed," Diokno said.

"So we are going to simplify it, I think lower the tax, and so hopefully it will attract a lot of mining," he said.

"I think we are [the] number one exporter in nickel, currently, and we have the potential to also export a lot of copper. SO, But, in addition, we want to develop the industry itself, and this is very relevant because of now the focus on electric vehicles," Diokno added.

Diokno also said that they want to make sure that additional value added is created as a result of this opening of the mining industry.