UK to fund PH initiative on transparency

MANILA, Philippines – The United Kingdom and the Philippines agreed to partner on efforts to improve transparency and accountability in extractive industries, including mining, oil and gas.

Over the weekend, the British embassy in Manila said it would help fund a program run by non-governmental organization Bantay Kita that will push the government’s agenda on transparency as the Philippines fulfill its initiative as a candidate country to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

The Philippine government and Bantay Kita signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday, June 14, formalizing the agreement to carry out activities that will reinforce the country’s work plan for the extractive industries.

Bantay Kita, a civil society representative in the Philippines’ EITI multi-stakeholder group, will receive funding received funding worth around £89,000 (nearly P6 million) for these activities through the British government’s Prosperity Programme.

Among the project’s aims is to develop the first Philippine EITI Report, which is required of each candidate country to demonstrate that it fully complies with the globally developed standards that
promote revenue transparency at the local level.

It will also push for legislation institutionalizing EITI in the Philippines within the 16th Congress. The project will also mobilize civil society, industry players and local government to work on the implementation of EITI both at the national and sub-national level.

President Aquino recently announced its commitment to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative through Executive Order (EO) No. 79 on Institutionalizing and Implementing Reforms in the
Philippine Mining Sector.

The Philippines was accepted as an EITI candidate country at the EITI’s global meeting in Sydney on May 22. – Rappler.com