All set for EITI: The Zamboanga Peninsula Conference on Transparency and Accountability in the Extractive Industries

Gitib Inc., a non-governmental organization supporting indigenous peoples (IP) and marginalized communities, in cooperation with Bantay Kita (BK), organized the Zamboanga Peninsula Conference on Transparency and Accountability in the Extractive Industries
The conference was held at the Casa Mea Conference Room in Zamboanga Sibugay last June 17 to 18, and was attended by over 40 participants with representatives from the CSOs, the local government, and TVI Pacific, Inc., a mining company operating in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.
The main goal for such gathering was to convene various stakeholders in the extractive industries, which include provincial and municipal local government units (LGUs), mining business sector, IP organizations, religious and civil society organizations (CSOs) in the region. Its main objective was to introduce the concept of accountability and transparency in the mining industry, as well as its implications to the communities’ advocacy and resistance.
Gitib Inc. and Bantay Kita provided a venue for in-depth discussion in order to achieve a unified understanding of the principles and standards of the EITI. Ultimately, the conference aimed to trigger a discussion ensuring the accountability and transparency in the value chain of extractive industries at the local level, particularly in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
The conference was also organized to formulate a framework on accountability and transparency for monitoring EI activities in the Zamboanga Peninsula area.
The attendees actively participated in the discussion as well as the open forum, which paved way to the formation of a multi-stakeholder group in the peninsula.
According to the attendees, a multi-stakeholders group (MSG) in the peninsula will give them a platform to air out their grievances and settle disputes amicably for as long as all sectors cooperate with each other and are transparent to one another.