'Is there another way to achieve the same result and make drug addicts or users surrender or cooperate with authorities without capitalizing on the threat of death?'
The government's over-emphasis on the right of the person with the gun over the right to life and due process of presumed innocent civilians can easily be abused and misused
This provides background paper for a learning event on transforming governance, which presents vertical integration as “an effective way of doing accountability work because it can reveal more clearly where the main problems are, permitting more precisely targeted civil society advocacy strategies.”
In June 2015, a North-South convergence of four organizations hosted a workshop entitled “scaling accountability.” In contrast to the conventional idea of “scaling” as involving the replication of local pilots, our use of the term was intended to convey the idea of going beyond bounded projects to address systemic accountability problems.
This study explores whether and how Philippine open government reformers have been able to leverage the Open Government Partnership (OGP) mechanisms, processes, spaces, and assistance to improve government responsiveness and accountability.
If we are to elect Duterte to the presidency, we must first ask ourselves: how different is present-day Philippines from Davao City of the 1980s?
A book chapter that discusses one of the challenges to Philippine democracy – poorly regulated campaign finance – highlighting the importance of making elections inclusive and democratic by making them competitive and fair.
The attempt of civil society to venture into expenditure monitoring is a huge challenge. It is a new terrain that involves technicalities and requires access to critical processes and documents of the government.
The society shares with the state that search for collective or general rationality. The state has institutional mechanisms such as elections, the courts and the executive and legislative policy-making to determine the collective/ legitimate reason. The society has the more fluid and unstructured means of discourses, dialogues and interactions. This makes it conducive for innovative, integration and in-depth analysis and discourses, where progression happens.
For "Daang Matuwid" to be sustained, expanded and deepened, good governance has to become a norm; good governance practices must become common, not mere islands and best practices up for awards. Political party reforms, Freedom of Information (FoI) and the anti-dynasty law are mechanisms that will make "Daang Matuwid" a norm that will bring about change that can be felt by ordinary citizens.
This conference-workshop is meant to start putting the citizens and civil society at the center, not mere expectators and recipients of policies and services - but as active actors pivotal in direction-/ agenda-setting and in leading this country to a better future.
There could be times when instead of speaking truth to power, an accountability mechanism becomes a tool of the powerful to constrain governance
His resignation shows how a person can reconcile the tension between his individual political disposition with his responsibility to a cause, a collective or a party
The Philippines as a nation-state will be strengthened with the proposed Bangsamoro solution. A nation-state is weakened whenever its monopoly over the use of legitimate violence is threatened by an armed rebellion; it is strengthened when it ends the rebellion through peace.
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.
We have advanced on so many governance reforms under the current administration, the reform of the most basic requirement of democracy, elections, continues to lag behind.
If you think that Marcos was the best president we ever had, think again
Using the ways of the old to fight for the new is like becoming the enemy you want to defeat