Scores of representatives from the Philippine government and mining companies pledged on Tuesday to abide by the terms of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) during a forum at the Hotel Sofitel in Pasay City.
The forum, entitled “Strengthening Natural Resources Governance: The Role of Legislators and EITI,” had as speaker EITI Chairman Clare Short, who was a former member of the British Parliament and secretary of state for International Development from 1997 to 2003.
She called on Filipino legislators to exercise their functions as environmental stewards and ensure that transparency governs transactions between government and mining companies.
Sen. Sonny Angara said progress has been achieved in ensuring that mining abide by environmental rules, as well as the requirements of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act, which calls for the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous groups before any mining activity commences.
Many of mining claims and existing mining tenements are located in areas covered by certificates of ancestral domain titles or are still under dispute.
Rep. Rodel Batocabe of Ako Bikol Party-list also attended the forum.
Both the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Finance (DOF) supported the forum, which also unveiled the results of the first Philippine EITI report.
Curiously, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was not represented in the forum, even as it has the primary responsibility of controlling mining companies nationwide.
The report showed that in 2012, mining, oil and gas collectively gave the DOE P28,994,848,000, followed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), at P21,362,107,000, the Mining and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) at P964,589,000, and local government units (LGUs) at P312,165,000.
Interestingly, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) received only P258,603,000.
The lowest revenue went to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) at P70,404,000.
Short said the EITI is a global standard of transparency that mandates both government and the mining industry to be truthful in reporting their revenues, with companies compelled to report their actual payments and the government to reveal their collections.
She wants the EITI standard to be legislated and all legal barriers to its implementation must be addressed or amended, if need be.
The results of the first Philippine EITI report also left much to be desired but the multi-stakeholder group (MSG) that reviewed the report said “the monitoring process must be improved.” MSG also called for a more in-depth study for EITI.
The group also stood foursquare behind a level playing field and the seamless meshing of rules and regulations that will cover all players that adhere to the principles of accountability and transparency.