Like most places, unfortunately, the Philippine government is idiotic and continues to pass new laws and taxes in order to get their ‘fair share’ of other people’s sweat, especially related to mining projects.

As the law stands, all gold and silver produced must be sold to the Bangko Sentral, the country’s central bank. Yet after the government started enforcing a 7% tax on precious metals last year, most small-scale producers are now selling to smugglers instead.

According to Assistant Central Bank Governor Manuel Torres, who heads the bank’s refinery operations, as much as 95% of all the gold mined in the Philippines is now being sold to smugglers and moved out of the country illegally.