For Beverly Besmanos, the gap between what transparency frameworks promise and what mining-affected communities in the Philippines actually experience is not abstract. As National Coordinator of Bantay Kita, she works within the EITI multi-stakeholder process but is candid about its limits: participation without power is not inclusion

In this conversation, Beverly offers a vivid account of community-led accountability in practice, including the story of women farmers and fisherfolk in Mindanao who brought a government investigation team into the mountains to witness firsthand how mining runoff was destroying their livelihoods. Her call to action is direct: invest in women-led civil society work and recognise that the women holding these communities together are the real change-makers, even when they remain invisible to formal governance processes.

Women, Governance, and the Limits of Transparency in Philippine Mining

Beverly Besmanos, National Coordinator, Bantay Kita · 19 March 2026

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. The original conversation was recorded on 19 March 2026 and is available to listen to above. Host: Laury Haytayan, MENA Director, Natural Resource Governance Institute.

Today's conversation focuses on a critical and often overlooked dimension of natural resource governance: the role of women in shaping decisions in the extractive sector, and how initiatives like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) can help move from transparency to truly inclusive governance.

Over the past years, we've seen important progress in improving transparency in extractive industries — through disclosure of revenues, contracts, and increasingly gender-disaggregated data. But the key question remains: does more data actually translate into more power for women?

In many resource-rich contexts, women are still underrepresented in decision-making spaces — from community consultations to national policy platforms. At the same time, they often experience the impacts of extractive projects in distinct and disproportionate ways, whether through environmental and health risks, shifts in livelihoods, or unequal access to compensation and social investments.

As countries like the Philippines take on an increasingly important role in supplying transition minerals such as nickel and copper, these questions become even more urgent. A just energy transition is not only about shifting energy systems — it is also about ensuring that governance becomes more inclusive, that rights such as consent are respected, and that women have a real voice in decisions that affect their communities and futures.

Beverly Besmanos brings over 15 years of experience in natural resource governance in the Philippines, with a strong focus on inclusive and community-driven approaches. She has worked extensively with mining-affected communities in Mindanao through the Alternate Forum for Research in Mindanao, and later as Subnational Coordinator at Bantay Kita. Since 2023, she has served as National Coordinator of Bantay Kita, leading efforts to strengthen transparency and accountability in the extractive sector.

Question 1: Could you share your personal journey in Philippine natural resource governance and your work on women's leadership?

Beverly Besmanos

Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to share our work here in the southern part of the Philippines, in Mindanao, where 60% of the large-scale mining operations are located. Most of these are nickel mining. That's why we're very worried about this energy transition, where the government is using this narrative to mine more from our islands.

With Bantay Kita, I started as one of the Mindanao staff, and I was one of the scholars sponsored by Revenue Watch years back. My idea of natural resource management really came from the precepts of natural resource governance introduced by NRGI during that time.

I remember studying together with other civil society groups from Southeast Asia who were into extractives, particularly mining and oil and gas. We had around two to three weeks of training in Jakarta, and we were able to imbibe what we learned and bring that to the communities we are working with.

I started engaging with communities by doing a study on small-scale mining in Mindanao. We looked into how small-scale miners are dependent on mercury and how this dependence has impacted women.

As we engaged with them, we also saw how empowered women are in community-based extraction, however informal. There are a lot more women engaged in these community-based livelihoods, and they are more empowered compared to women working in large-scale mining operations.

So we started asking: why is it so difficult for the government to include and recognise this kind of empowerment work and the natural way women lead small-scale mining organisations?

Question 2: How can EITI processes move women from being consulted to shaping decisions?

Beverly Besmanos

I think it's very important that the Philippine EITI must support civil society grassroots work — those that empower women impacted by extractive operations.

The CSOs in the Philippines are the initiators of transparency and accountability work on the ground, especially with EITI. Everything revolves around transparency and accountability, and we brought that idea from the trainings given to us.

If there is one change to the multi-stakeholder group practice, it would be incorporating women-led CSO grassroots work into the PH-EITI work plan.

In my experience, the civil society representatives in PH-EITI are mostly women — around seven or eight out of ten. So I can say this is a women-led coalition doing grassroots work. We bring EITI on the ground.

Whatever findings, observations, and work on the ground should be incorporated into the country work plan. Otherwise, EITI implementation will just be an empty promise and will not be very impactful. Civil society bridges the gap between the national work plan and grassroots needs.

Question 3: What mechanisms and datasets should be prioritised for advocacy and oversight?

Beverly Besmanos

I think there are three things.

First is the money on social expenditures. We need to make sure where the money goes — SDMP, royalties — and whether it is being used to invest more in women's development and empowerment.

Second is to conduct community-led gender impact assessments — not the typical ones that only involve consultants who are not from the community.

Third is the recognition of community-based data. There are a lot of disagreements and conflicts because we are all looking at different datasets. What's important is the recognition of community-based data.

"We are not mining engineers, we are just mothers, farmers, and fisherfolk. But we know that the mud going to our rice farms and mangroves is coming from the mining areas."

For example, women in one of our communities were able to convene the regional investigation and assessment team. They brought this intergovernment group to the mountains and showed what is happening. There was no hydrological data available, but they wanted the team to see what is happening. Because of that, activity plans are now underway, including dialogues with local government and monitoring initiatives.

Question 4: What are the most persistent barriers preventing women from meaningful participation?

Beverly Besmanos

One barrier is the lack of financial support for women's participation. Even in PH-EITI, reimbursement for transportation and meals is very difficult to get from the government. We feel like we are begging for it. But this work is voluntary, and the government should invest more.

Another barrier is the limited space for civil society. In the MSG, the most powerful actors are the government and the industry, and civil society is always on the hot seat.

There are also structural issues. Some communities, especially Indigenous communities, lack education. So even if data is available, they cannot read or understand it.

And even within civil society, there is exclusion. Many environmental NGOs exclude women who are in small-scale mining or who have already agreed to mining projects. These women are not supported, even though they are among those most affected.

So how do we address that? We just have to be very loud and noisy. If you don't talk, they're not going to listen.

Question 5: How can EITI ensure a just transition for women?

Beverly Besmanos

I would answer that honestly: not that much.

When complaints are filed through the PH-EITI grievance mechanism, they are just forwarded to government agencies. The process becomes circular and does not assure resolution on the ground.

That's why we do not see EITI as the only solution. We want beyond EITI, beyond transparency. Data alone does not do much if it does not reflect lived realities.

What we do is continue sustaining local communities. Bantay Kita implements projects that support women's livelihoods in mining-affected areas. This helps sustain their energy to speak up.

We also push for consolidation of CSO work into the EITI work plan, so activities match what is happening on the ground. If EITI wants to be effective, it should work with communities, align with grassroots work, and pool resources with civil society and companies.

Closing: What concrete commitments would you like to see in the next 12 months?

Beverly Besmanos

Government: There should be a specific amount of funds for women's empowerment within EITI — not just for salaries, but funds that go directly to communities impacted by mining.

Companies: They should be open to civil society engagement at the subnational level and support credible CSO selection processes in oversight committees.

Civil society: Environmental NGOs should include women in small-scale and informal mining areas. These women are currently excluded but face many of the real issues.

Everyone: We want to work together with government, companies, and civil society. Let's go to the communities, pool resources, and see if what we are doing really works. We might have different interests, but we have the same goal — sustainable development for communities. If mining is really contributing to development, then let's try to do that together.