Accountability is achieved and sustained by creating and strengthening institutions. Institutions are strengthened through accountability efforts and practices.
In a democracy where public office is a public trust and where power emanates from the people, getting feedback on how government exercises its power from everywhere, anytime is a given. In fact, it is encouraged. Government is expected to respond and its response is expected to make it more efficient and effective.
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.
Governance has to be reformed and made transparent, accountable and participatory because power corrupts. And in our current system, there are many ways and mechanisms that facilitate the corruption of power. The pork system was one of them. It is easy to abuse public office. The system, in fact, has been molded so that those on top can easily use and abuse it to stay in power.
The DAP is a sensible fiscal discipline mechanism provided that possible abuses of discretion in its use will be avoided. In identifying which projects and programs to cancel, the executive must have a clear performance standards to use which can be checked. In re-allocating savings (as defined by law), the projects and programs to be funded must be items in the GAA or items that will pass through legislative enactment.
It is time for the relevant accountability institutions, namely the Commission on Audit (COA), the Department of Justice, the Ombudsman, the Sandiganbayan and the courts, to step up and prove worthy of the powers vested upon them. These institutions are the ones with the strongest mandate to get to the bottom of the Napoles and the Malampaya scams and start the process of investigating other abuses of pork allocations.Collapse of Checks-and-Balance
In the meantime, there is a need to abolish the pork system--the real pork system.
This Complaint should be our opportunity to show we can hold power to account. It should also be an opportunity for us to bring the integrity of our political system. This Complaint should strengthen our call to ABOLISH PORK!
'I enjoin others to try to fill-up the blank below and send the letter to good and honest Congresspersons you know too'
The pork barrel is a scam fueling a patronage-based political culture and perverting the political system
This guidebook gives the citizens’ monitoring team, which we will call the Integrity Watch, a framework on how to assess the processes undertaken by the LGU and the WSP in water service provision. This guidebook is based on actual experiences of other citizens monitoring groups. It has been crafted using Human Rights-Based Approach to organization and development within the water sector, consistent with the MDGF 1919’s mainstreaming of HRBA.
This is an easy-to-use guide on how to implement a community based monitoring of education service delivery of a local government unit (LGU) using the tools and methods developed in the implementation of Edukasyon sa Naga, Salmingan Ta! monitoring initiative.
Here is an easy-to-use guide on how to implement a community based monitoring of an ecotourism program of a local government unit (LGU) using the tools and methods developed in the implementation of Ambligan ang Kalibotan.
This simple manual will instruct you on how to implement a community-based monitoring initiative for the rice production programs of your Local Government Units (LGU). It will teach you how to use the tools and methods developed during the implementation of BULHON sa Panguma.
This is an easy-to-use guide on how to implement a community based monitoring of the revenue generation for the environment of a local government unit (LGU), through the Environmental User’s Fee (EUF) using the tools and methods developed in the implementation of IGaCoS Bantay Kinaiyahan in the Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS).
This is an easy-to-use guide on how to implement a community based monitoring of the health program of a local government unit (LGU) using the tools and methods developed in the implementation of Subay Kahimsog in Dumaguete City.
Here is an easy-to-use guide on how to implement a community based monitoring of Infrastructure Projects of a local government unit (LGU) using the tools and methods developed in the implementation of Tambayayong sa Infrastrakturang Paglambo sa Southern Leyte.
This is a simple and easy-to-use guide on how to implement a community-based monitoring of local service delivery using the tools and methods developed in the pilot implementation of the G-Watch Localization Project.
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.
After round of monitoring of school building projects (SBPs) under the Bayanihang Eskwela, G-Watch has persistently encountered issues on allocation. This led G-Watch to inquire about the standard involving allocation.