PH taking strides in wise use of natural resources; civil societies huge help

The Philippines received the Chair’s Award along with three other countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, and Mongolia.

The award recognized the country’s efforts in institutionalizing reforms that contribute to ensuring transparency by governments and companies in the extractive industries—usually refer to oil, gas, and mining activities.

The Philippines is a candidate member of EITI starting in 2013. EITI’s website said implementing their standards include strengthening the accountability of industries to account for its activities, accepting responsibility for them and disclosing results in an open manner.

“Countries rich in natural resources such as oil, gas, and mining have tended to under-perform economically, have a higher incidence of conflict, and suffer from poor governance,” stated EITI in their website. EITI hopes that by encouraging greater transparency in countries rich in these resources, some of the potential negative impacts can be mitigated.

Meanwhile, the gathering at the global conference saw the importance of civil societies in the implementation of EITI in the country, said the Head of VSU’s Institute of Strategic Research and Development Studies Prof. Maria Aurora Teresita Tabada who attended the conference as civil society representative of the EITI Philippines (PH-EITI) Multi-Stakeholder Group.

“There can be no EITI without the free and informed participation of civil society,” said Prof. Tabada. EITI also recognized the role of civil societies in sharing more information to the public about the revenues that governments manage on behalf of citizens, thereby making governments more accountable.

EITI was established in 2002 as a global standard ensuring transparency of revenues from natural resources.