BANTAY KITA 07 Title of Project: Claiming Political Space: Amplifying the Voice of Indigenous Peoples in Minerals Management
Bantay Kita is the lead applicant for this Sudden Opportunity project having a strong financial absorption capacity and a repeat grantee familiar with Voice reporting guidelines. Bantay Kita is a strong coalition of civil society organizations advocating for transparency and accountability in the extractive industry. It is a local affiliate of the global Publish What You Pay Coalition and engages in the multi-stakeholder Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), coordinating civil society. It envisions empowered communities that promote sustainable development and good governance of natural resources. Oriang Women’s Group, the main implementer of the project, is a local women’s movement founded as a contribution of women activists to the growing global women’s movement, expanding the fight for women’s rights and for gender and social justice alongside calls for a better world for their families and children. They are women leaders from across social and sectoral movements from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Among these women are veteran feminist activists engaged in fights for global climate justice, defense of democracy, human rights, workers’ rights, and the right to livelihood, land and housing. Lakbayan/Kampo or March/Campaign to Stop Contractualization of Workers is a response to the harassment being experienced by women workers of a big private company called DBSN Farms Agriventures, Inc. It brings the campaign from Albuera and Leyte to the capital Manila to put a stop to the abuse by the DBSN Management and for them to comply with labor standards and respect the rights of women workers. Through concerted efforts by Bantay Kita, Oriang Women’s Group, DBSN Workers’ Union – SUPER Federation, and partner civil organizations, this campaign is expanding the space for political participation of women workers as they dialogue with the responsible organizations. Apart from mobilization efforts towards their Lakbayan Camp to Manila, the project conducts a series of sharing sessions with students and other support groups, holding press conferences and fora to amplify the experiences and calls for justice of these women. The project envisions the end of contractualization, provision of regular and decent jobs to women workers, improved working and living conditions of these workers and their families, and reduced incidents of abuse and exploitation of vulnerable women and workers. This project is creating a platform where the affected workers themselves can voice out their demands and be heard, engaging other sectors to act thus effecting necessary changes.
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