Gold miners have for years been accused of eroding profits through expensive deals but the takeovers of Randgold by Barrick and Goldcorp by Newmont have spurred speculation about a pick up in long-dormant gold M&A.
Gold deliveries to central bank unit Fidelity Printers and Refiners, which buys all the country's gold, declined to 6.5 tonnes from 7.3 tonnes during the January-March quarter.
By law, all gold produced by small miners in the Philippines should be sold to the central bank at around market price, but miners have circumvented taxes introduced in 2011 by selling on the black market.