MANILA CITY – The Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) participated in the Fostering Open and Responsible Governance of the Extractives (FORGE) Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PH-EITI) 2022 Annual National Conference on 08 November 2022 at The Manila Hotel, Manila.

Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno urged stakeholders to continue using the PH-EITI data in policy work and research and co-create recommendations to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth in the extractive industries.

“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”, Secretary Diokno said.

Diokno emphasized the PH-EITI’s contribution to the government’s reforms on fiscal mining through strengthened and broadened data transparency to ensure equitable government revenue share from resource utilization and effectively respond to climate change and energy transition issues.

FORGE PH is an annual PH-EITI national conference that aims to openly discuss viewpoints and issues concerning extractives and natural resource governance. The BLGF, a technical working group member of the PH-EITI, in partnership with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Philippine Poverty Environment Initiative (PPEI), developed the Environment and Natural Resources Data Management Tool (ENRDMT) to improve the reporting systems on the local government’s share from the utilization of the country’s natural wealth.