Philippines' Duterte warns miners - 'I will tax you to death'


Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (C) gestures as he delivers a speech during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on the Joint Session of the 17th Congress at the House of the Representatives in Quezon city, metro Manila, Philippines July 24, 2017. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he wanted to stop exporting mineral resources and might close the mining sector completely and tax miners "to death" if damage to the environment persisted.

"The protection of the environment must be made a priority ahead of mining and all other activities that adversely affect one way or another," Duterte said in his State of the Nation address, his second since assuming power in June last year. "This policy is non-negotiable."

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