​At the Heart of Change, Lies Communities of Power

Blog by Sectoral Transparency Alliance on Natural Resource Governance in Cebu, Inc. (STANCE)

In 2018, at the height of the local implementation of the UNDEF Project, a mountain collapsed taking
away lives, a good number of them, I am afraid, will remain unknown. The tragic event struck a
chord because it happened in an extractives area at a time when the UNDEF project is in full swing,
engaging basic sector representatives to encourage them to find their voice as they slowly take their
place in the spaces allocated to them within natural resource governance.

As hushed whispers were exchanged, a clear picture was formed: nation building becomes
meaningful if communities and the women and men chosen to represent them undertake an
ownership of their individual and collective roles contributing to a better world we all dream to give
our children and their children. Such intergenerational project is only possible when the sources of
power, even within natural resource governance, is so configured to be equally wielded by
stakeholders with preference to those who are always at the margins.

The UNDEF project stood on a terra firma of democratic values, providing space for those who often
stand in awe opposite to power with very little opportunities to express their right to be recognized
as part of the whole system of governance and resources allocation.

Admittedly, the long road to paradigm shifts and institutional renovations is still a far horizon away.
But change had been provoked, it is desired. The flames of hope had been ignited setting ablaze a
process that seeks out transformations and liberations, of communities so empowered that at the
heart of each one, change is already beginning to show its bud.