During Phase One of the Resource-Based Conflict and Peacebuilding Training Program, MPI trained and accompanied Subanen and Higaunon tribal leaders in resolving and transforming resource-based conflict through non-violent, just and participatory processes. Originally, the project consisted of five training modules with corresponding follow-through activities in Indigenous People's Ancestral Domain sites of Northern Mindanao and the Zamboanga Peninsula in the Philippines. However, during the implementation of the project, a pressing need for providing knowledge on the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent was emphasized by the tribal scholars who attended the trainings. Hence, a new module was added to the project to answer the concerns of the indigenous leaders on the process.
Pikhumpungan Dlibon Subanon, Inc. (PDSI) and Ecosystems Work for Essential Benefits (EcoWEB), the two Accompanying NGOs in the project had been working with Subanen and Higaunon leaders to provide local accompaniment in their communities.
The six training modules of the project were the following:
1) Engaging the Mining Industry, Policies and Stakeholders (EMIPS)
2) Conflict Resolution and Facilitation Enhancement Training (CRSF-FET)
3) Strengthening Indigenous Governance and Leadership for Resolution of Conflict (SIGLARC)
4) Ancestral Domain Conservation & Resource Assessment through Participatory 3-Dimensional Mapping (CRAT-P3DM)
5) Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM)
6) Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)
MPI drew on a pool of trainers from a variety of backgrounds including large and small-scale mining companies, anti-mining civil society organizations, NGOs, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources offices and the local government units.