Economic of Philippine mining : rents, price cycles, externalities, and the uncompensated costs / Germelino M. Bautista. 6

ABSTRACT : This paper argues that the country's current strategy of commodity-trade niche-ing via mineral production is a threat to sustainable development and hardly a program for economic growth . Given the enclave character of the metallic mineral industry, its capital-intensive production , the small income shares for labor, the indigenous people, and the environment, and the hreater share of rent fully remitted out of the country without contributing to domestic capital accumulation the strategy's impact on growth is insignificant. Also, government remedial measures and funding programs with mining would not fully mitigate the negative resource and environmental impacts, nor provide adequate compesation for the adverse economic and social costs. The estimated amount for mitigationmeasures and damage compensations would hardly cover the costs of community displacements, the loss of local clean water supply, and the health and livelihood damages from the pollution and the collapse of tailing dams. These policy measures are proposed to address these contradictions. 56

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