Three years after the passage of the SK Reform Law in 2016, the law has not been fully implemented. The Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) lacks implementation details and SKs and stakeholders have yet to be oriented on it. Most SKs have yet to comply with the requirements for them to receive and utilize their budget. There is confusion among SKs, local government officials and national government agencies on mandates vis-à-vis the SK Reform Law implementation. The status of the SK budget is unclear and the trainings conducted have been lacking in substance and form.
G-Watch is exploring to set up a multi-sectoral and multi-level citizen monitoring of key government programs and services in the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) learning from the three-decade old experience and knowledge of G-Watch adapted and customized in the unique context of BARMM.
On April 20-22, G-Watch conducted a soft launch of the initiative ‘Enabling G-Watch Monitoring in BARMM’ and briefing-orientation of volunteer-monitors from Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte.
G-Watch is taking part in a new undertaking that holds government to account in protecting public’s right to health that is endangered by interference by powerful private corporate actors in health-related policies and in public conscientization. The specific private corporate interest we look into are the powerful tobacco industry players whose strong and innovative lobbying work compromise public health.
The Political Democracy and Reforms (PODER) and Government Watch (G-Watch) of the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG), in collaboration with Ateneo de Naga, Naga City People’s Council (NCPC) and Jesse M. Robredo Center for Good Governance (JMR Center), recently spearheaded the forum on the "Ill-Effects of Dynastic Politics and the Imperative of Political and Electoral Reforms as a Campaign Issue".
This case study pertains to an assessment conducted by the Basel Institute on Governance, in collaboration with UNDP’s Global Anti-Corruption Initiative (GAIN), of a social accountability monitoring project in the municipality of San Miguel, Bohol in the Philippines. The aforementioned project, called Bayaniham Undertaking Living in a Healthy and Organised Neighborhood or BULHON sa Panguma (BULHON), involves the monitoring of agricultural subsidies and was developed and implemented by the Government Watch (G-Watch) programme of the Ateneo School of Government in Manila.
'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'