The Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Office No. XIII supported the PH-EITI Roadshow on August 7, 2018 at Hotel Tavern in Surigao City.
With the theme Moving Beyond Transparency: Integrating Extractives Disclosure and Dialogue in Local Development, this year’s event will highlight the Fourth PH-EITI Report and the innovations to mainstream transparency in the extractives as a result of the EITI process. The event was organized by the Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PH-EITI) in partnership with the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) and Bantay Kita (BK). Local stakeholders including local government units, regional offices of national government agencies, extractive companies and associations, civil society organizations and members of the academe and the media participated in the event.
Hon. Arturo Carlos A. Egay, Jr., Vice Governor of Surigao del Norte, delivered the Opening Remarks. “Today, we convene as one family of advocates for transparency. In this Roadshow, we will stage and showcase our best practices with the aim of crafting a roadmap towards sustainable development, inclusive growth and holistic transformation in consonance with the EITI standards… I am very positive that we can sustain this, that we can do this here in the Province of Surigao del Norte. Kaya nato ini. The EITI Philippines is here to help us. This is a very good endeavor and EITI is one of the priority legs of the OGP or the Open Government Partnership alongside Open Legislation, Freedom of Information, among others,” he imparted.
Lectures, presentations and updates were given during the event. The program included a panel discussion which was participated in by government, industry and CSO representatives. During the morning session, the panelists comprised Hon. Arturo Carlos A. Egay, Jr., Vice Governor of Surigao del Norte; Engr. Roger A. De Dios, MGB Caraga Regional Director; Atty. Ronald Rex S. Recidoro, Executive Director of Chamber of Mines of the Philippines; and Mr. Buenaventura M. Maata, Jr., Executive Director of Phil. Grassroots Engagement in Rural Development Foundation, Inc. Atty. Recidoro and Mr. Maata are members of the PH-EITI Multi-Stakeholder Group. Ms. Maricor Anne D.G. Cauton from the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines acted as the moderator of the panel discussion. After the stimulating discussion, an open forum ensued.
In the afternoon, a workshop was conducted in which the participants were grouped into breakout sessions. The Data Dive Workshop on SEED Tools were given to participants who have attended past PH-EITI gatherings while the new participants took part in EITI 101 for New Stakeholders. Towards the end of the event, there was a presentation on Workshop Outputs which was followed by the PH-EITI Transparency Awards.