ForwardBrowse Think Pieces and other opinion articles published on G-Watch as well as other websites.
Co-Constructing Accountability
Opening Remarks in the Multiply-Ed National Multisectoral Conference
Marco Polo | 7-8 August 2023
Magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat.
Thank you to all our guests for honoring us with your presence, and thank you and congratulations in advance to all who form part of the growing movement of Multiply-Ed. Ang lawak at lalim na ng ating gawain at lalo pa natin dapat itong pag-ibayuhin.
Solidarity Message during the Multiply-Ed Regional Multi-Sectoral Conference
By Mayor Vico Sotto
19 May 2023
Magandang umaga po sa ating lahat.
Napakasaya ko po ngayong umaga dahil dito po sa ating conference, at sa ating ‘ika nga ni Ms. Joy kanina, sa ating pagtatagpo ngayong umaga. Napakaganda po ng mensahe sa atin.
Synergy is the New Direction to Strengthen Public Accountability
(Opening Remarks in the Multiply-Ed NCR Regional Multisectoral Conference)
Joy Aceron
Pasig, 19 May 2023
To our partners, allies and champions in government…
To our partners in civil society and the private sector…
To my colleagues and comrades in Multiply-Ed and the core organizations that constitute its managing coalition, namely CYAN, SCAP, Bukluran UP System and G-Watch….
To the students, barangay officials, parents and other participants in this conference….
Magandang umaga. (Good morning.)
NO ONE X-cluED! The Department of Education Has a Plan to Continue Learning Amid COVID-19. The Youth Are Making Sure It Gets Implemented.
By: Francis Isaac
Dirk Tamayo was doing well in his studies prior to the pandemic. Enrolled in a private school in Pangasinan, he was at the top of his class, but was also looking forward to the end of the term like any grade four pupil.
“I was excited to attend our Recognition Ceremony,” Dirk remembered. “And I was hoping my mom would also allow me to attend our school's three-day summer camp after that.”
But anticipation gave way to disappointment when classes were suspended in early 2020 due to the growing number of COVID-19 cases.
On Freedom of Information: A Message to Government
I write this piece to give an unsolicited advice and needed reminder to government offices and officials on their access to information practices. This particularly becomes crucial at this time after years of rollback in key governance reforms and threats to civic spaces, and given the need for accurate information to fight fake news in the elections and as a centerpiece agenda for the new administration to improve the responsiveness and efficiency of governance.
Make the 2022 Elections an Accountability Platform! A Statement of Government Watch (G-Watch) on the Upcoming May Polls
Make the 2022 Elections an Accountability Platform!
A Statement of Government Watch (G-Watch) on the Upcoming May Polls
Scaling Textbook Count, Youth-Led Style
Scaling Textbook Count, Youth-Led Style
Remarks in the Launching of Multiply-Ed
By: Joy Aceron
Pasig | 7 February 2022
Rollback on Participatory Reform Gains in Government Procurement?
By: Joy Aceron*
After attending the online two-day training of the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) for Civil Society Organization (CSO) observers last July 29-30, I can’t help but reflect on whether there has been a significant rollback in the participatory reforms in the country’s government procurement.
Making Elections an Accountability Platform (MEAP): Explaining the Idea
By: Joy Aceron and Francis Isaac
Introduction
In the past weeks, G-Watch local sites have started conducting their citizenship education sessions to make the elections an accountability platform. The said initiative aims to provide a safe and open platform for citizens, citizen groups and communities to collectively reflect on the situation of the country, reaffirm basic democratic values and processes and try to identify shared agenda in engaging the upcoming elections to get back on track on the agenda of democratic deepening in the Philippines.
One Palawan Lang: The National Significance of the Palawan Plebiscite
By Mickel Ollave and Joy Aceron*
Analyzing the national significance of the recent Palawan plebiscite from an insider-outsider perspective, Mike Ollave and Joy Aceron, in this piece, contends that the Palawan plebiscite post positive implications on the country and its citizen movements. The Palawan plebiscite shows that top-down agenda initiated by the powerful can still be defeated by mostly citizen resistance below. The Palawan election proves a clean peaceful democratic electoral exercise remains feasible even amidst the pandemic. An electoral exercise can still be issue-based and an opportunity for the powerful to be held to account.