In September 2022, the municipality of Tampakan in South Cotabato, Philippines, made a decisive regulatory intervention by revoking the business permit of Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), the operator of Southeast Asia’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposit. The revocation, announced by Mayor Leonard Escobillo, was based on findings that SMI had misrepresented its business classification, falsely registering as a mineral exploration manufacturer while operating as a general engineering contractor – an act deemed fraudulent under the Municipal Tax Code of 2012. The local government, through a routine audit, discovered the discrepancy and subsequently padlocked SMI’s facility in the village of Liberty. Despite the company’s separate legal challenge against a _397 million (US$6.9 million) tax liability, officials emphasized that the permit revocation was purely regulatory and unrelated to the tax dispute.