WITH the extractive industries contributing billions to government coffers, the current administration is bent on turning it into a major growth driver of the economy in the medium term, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Tuesday.
According to him, the extractive industries posted a P363-billion contribution to government revenues from 2012 to 2019.
In order to harness the potential of the industry, Diokno said the government intends to push for the subnational implementation of EITI, or the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Local governments are tasked to govern extractive activities, specifically small-scale mining sectors.
“With the Marcos administration banking on the potential of the extractive sector to drive long-term economic expansion, the inclusive and data-informed governance of the extractive industries becomes more critical than ever,” Diokno said at the FORGE PH: Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PH-EITI) National Conference on Tuesday.
Moreover, the EITI platform will be used to ensure equitable government revenue share from resource utilization, which is demonstrated in PH-EITI’s contribution to the crafting of a new fiscal regime for mining.
EITI data will be utilized to inform the public and stakeholders of initiatives towards climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the transition to low-carbon energy.
With this, Diokno urged stakeholders to continue using
PH-EITI data in their research work and policy advocacy.
“As we close in on our first decade of being an EITI-implementing country, we commit to making implementation more inclusive, more meaningful, and responsive to the needs of our stakeholders,” he said.
FORGE PH is the annual assembly of the extractive sector that updates stakeholders on progress in achieving greater transparency and accountability in the extractive industries.
This year, the national conference focused on how the PH-EITI can respond to concerns on climate change and energy transition, which is in line with the initiative to incorporate sustainability concerns in the global reporting standard.
The EITI International, chaired by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, has been supporting the Philippines in maintaining a high level of transparency and stakeholder engagement in its extractive industries.
The PH-EITI is a government-led, multi-stakeholder initiative implementing EITI, the global standard that promotes the open, accountable management, and good governance of oil, gas, and mineral resources. It was created on November 26, 2013 through EO No. 147, series of 2013.
Image credits: Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB