In the last decade, the Philippines has bet heavily on the mining industry, with 47 large-scale mines in operation and growing evidence of their social and environmental costs. The briefing argues that the country’s ability to properly regulate or close polluting mines will be severely constrained by a network of investment treaties the Philippines has signed, which provide excessive protection for foreign investors. This legal straitjacket will become still tighter if the government goes ahead with the EU–Philippines Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
The report (in English) is available at: http://focusweb.org/content/signing-away
-sovereignty-how-investment-agreements-threaten-regulation-mining-industry
