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Textbook Count in the Philippines
In the 1990s, the education sector in the Philippines faced a major crisis. The Department of Education (DepEd) was accused of extensive corruption, in particular in the field of textbooks procurement (according to Philippine law the government is obliged to provide students with free textbooks) (Ramkumar 2010). At least three forms of corruption were suspected: officials were awarding overpriced contracts to unqualified bidders, suppliers were not honoring their contracts (many textbooks remained undelivered even after the government had paid for them), and some vendors were providing books of poor quality (Ramkumar 2010).
Strategic Dilemmas in Changing Contexts: G-Watch’s Experience in the Philippine Education Sector
On 19 April 2014, the Transparency and Accountability Initiative and Hivos brought together funders, civil society organizations, and researchers to consider the opportunities and challenges of linking state and civil society efforts towards greater transparency and accountability (T/A). This short think piece (Strategic Dilemmas & Context FG SR) picks up on the conversation to encourage collective thinking, research and action.
How far can citizen participation in governance go?
'If the mechanism of our government is working towards ensuring transparency and accountability, we might not even have to do what we have been doing as a civil society organization'
Constructive engagement with government
With four cities and one municipality, the Ateneo School of Government's Government Watch (G-Watch) Pilot Run project (this is the final of seven columns on this project) had the lowest tier of Philippine government covered; the sixth site would cover an equally critical government level, provincial. Provinces, too, receive their own internal revenue allotment from the national budget; they also possess decentralized and delegated powers and responsibilities in their jurisdiction.
If they win, what should Jinkee, other local officials do?
'We hope that local politicians will not only build constituencies for elections but also constituencies for good governance after elections'
Improving Education and Curbing Corruption by Monitoring Textbook Deliveries in the Philippines
In 2001 there were a plethora of reports, disclosing that billions of pesos were lost in textbook scams, corruption in procurement, ghost projects in textbook delivery and school-building construction. In that year, G-Watch reviewed public sector performance in two key areas: textbook delivery and school-building construction.
Textbook Count to help solve book shortage
The Department of Education (DepEd) has strengthened its partnership with the private sector to achieve its goal of solving the textbook shortage problem this year.
G-Watch to monitor health projects in City
The Government Watch (G-Watch) of the Ateneo School of Government forged a partnership with the city government of Dumaguete for a project called Subay sa Kahimsug with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement at the City Hall quadrangle.
The MOA was signed by Mayor Manuel Sagarbarra, Visayan Forum field officer Marlene Pepino, Ateneo School of Government Assoc. Dean Dr. Mario Villaverde, G-Watch director Joy Aceron, YMCA executive director Greg Fernandez, and Dr. Emelen Nakao of the SU School of Public Affairs & Governance.
G-Watch
Established in 2000 in response to the plethora of reports on corruption and inefficiency in the government, Government Watch (G-Watch) is an action research program of the Ateneo School of Government that specializes in expenditure-tracking and monitoring government agencies' program implementation.
Citizen engagement for good governance is at the heart of the work of G-Watch. Its experience in engaging the government for performance monitoring has become a leading practice of social accountability.
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