EITI as originally conceived is narrowly focused on financial transparency and it may not solve
most of the problems and concerns we have raised regarding the extractive industry particularly
on human rights violation, conflict and violence, displacement and environmental degradation.
But, we also believe that EITI provides enough room for countries to be flexible and define the
scope of EITI. Other countries like Timor Leste pushed the boundaries of EITI to include expenditure tracking, showing that EITI can be broadened to cover country-specific concerns. We
believe it is the primary role of the CSOs to push the boundaries of EITI to be more relevant to
the needs of the country.
For communities hosting mining operations, EITI can provide the opportunity for these communities to strengthen their rights to participate in the decision making process of mining activities
in their communities, to monitor and assess the impact of mining operations of the companies
they are hosting. They can determine whether they are getting the fair share of the natural resources extracted in their area. EITI can guarantee access to information to enable the communities to exercise these rights.
Furthermore, in a decentralized context, local governments can implement their own subnational
EITI, like the subnational EITI Bantay Kita is supporting in Compostela Valley and T’boli, South
Cotabato. In implementing subnational EITI, local stakeholders can monitor the process on how
licenses are issued and how consultations are conducted. Community members can influence
how money from extractive activities are actually spent by their local governments.
We are optimistic that EITI can be a mechanism to improve the access to information regarding the extractive industry. It can be a platform in strengthening peoples’ rights to be part of the
decision making process in utilizing our natural resources. It may serve as a venue to strengthen
the process of acquiring the free prior and informed consent (FPIC) of indigenous [