Bantay Kita reorients municipal leaders of Tboli, South Cotabato on resource governance

A follow-through activity with municipal leaders of Tboli was conducted last September 22 after the officials’ exposure to the bigger issues of transparency and accountability during the Davao-leg of the PH-EITI Local Government Unit Roadshow held last August 5.

Ms. Beverly Besmanos, BK Mindanao subnational coordinator, answered questions raised by the municipal leaders particularly on the issue of royalty management in the barangay level tribal councils. IP Mandatory Representative of Compostela Valley Hon. Augusto S. Blanco, Jr was invited to present IP transparency mechanisms that are currently in place in their locality. He emphasized the relevance of transparency among IP organizations. He also presented how they initiated transparency mechanisms in their respective communities.
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The province of Compostela Valley, with support from Bantay Kita, were among the first mining provinces to institutionalize a subnational Extractive Industries and Transparency Initiative.
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BK has also been assisting indigenous peoples of barangays Kematu and Desawo involved in small-scale mining through capacity-building programs, community empowerment and management of mineral resources. The event was attended by 47 participants coming from the Tboli Sangguniang Bayan, members and leaders of the Kematu United Tribal Council of Elders and Leaders, the municipal environment office, and representatives from the small-scale mining associations.