PPTRP-supported local transparency groups share experiences in reporting and fighting corruption

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PPTRP-supported local transparency groups share experiences in reporting and fighting corruption

PPTRP

Thursday, 30 June 2011

Three local transparency reporting groups which the Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) supported and helped establish gathered on June 3 in Bohol to share experiences in building transparency and accountability in their respective communities.

Gathering at the JJ’s Seafood Village in Tagbilaran City were media and civil society members of the newly-formed Bohol Transparency Network for Transformation (Bohol TNT) and representatives of the Watchful Advocates for Transparent, Clean and Honest Governance in Kidapawan (WATCH Kidapawan) and the Multisectoral Alliance for Transparency and Accountability in Samar (MATA-Samar). Also present were PPTRP manager Rorie Fajardo and Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD) executive director Red Batario.

In her presentation, MATA-Samar spokesperson Emy Bonifacio highlighted how the group began to organize amid issues on lack of transparency in their provincial government and Congress representative, all coming from the same political clan and the campaigns they conducted since the group was formally launched last December.

“It really makes a difference if you have an anti-corruption reporting group,” said Bonifacio, also a reporter of the local media Samarnews.com. MATA-Samar, she said, comprised members not only of the media and CSOs but also from the urban poor and local government, counting in provincial government employees concerned with the lack of transparency in the current administration.

Bonifacio said the group’s information, education and communication activities focused on issues deemed important to the public – procurement of medicines and cement; local government budget; social services; and use of pork barrel to fund road projects. MATA-Samar has also began expanding recruitment of potential members, reaching out to other marginalized sectors.

Bonifacio took note that MATA-Samar was the first local group to test the Department of Interior and Local Government’s memo circulars requiring local government units on full financial disclosure and banning politicians’ names and photos in government project billboards. “We are glad that DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo has acknowledged our efforts,” she said.

WATCH Kidapawan chairperson Abner Francisco discussed the roots of their group which was formally launched in June 2010. Before this group, media and CSOs in Kidapawan City and North Cotabato had already experiences in working together to demand transparency from local officials, through a local radio program called “Pulso ng Bayan” (Pulse of the People).

In its one year of existence, WATCH Kidapawan was able to lessen competition among local media outlets: the group now practices pooled reporting and share information especially on issues related to corruption and transparency.

WATCH Kidapawan was also able to contribute in increasing the city tax collection by 700 percent following its expose of alleged anomalies in rental fees and its campaign to support a used clothing vendor who exposed the alleged corrupt practices of few city hall employees.

Francisco said interested citizens in other towns in Cotabato have already begun approaching them to ask for help in organizing similar groups in their area.

Vilma Gonzales, WATCH Kidapawan spokesperson, said the group has become a uniting force when it comes to people’s issues. It continually helps the community own their issues and encourage them to join in having a say and finding solutions to their concerns.

Bohol TNT members welcomed the sharing of the two groups, but also raised the realities such as corruption among the media themselves and the need to further enhance media and CSO relations in Bohol.

Bohol TNT member Rosalinda Paredes said this is why the group also aims to address the need for integrity development, reminding everyone the importance of staying corruption-free in respective fields while calling for public transparency.

Chito Visarra of DYRD Bohol and Bohol Chronicle expressed hope that through the Bohol TNT, CSO and media could work together in building better transparency in the province.

Raul Barbarona, president of BANGON, said the sharing of WATCH Kidapawan and MATA-Samar inspired them to continue the work and enjoin as many people in the clamor for public accountability.

Bohol TNT earlier signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PPTRP for the development and support for monitoring and reporting of transparency and accountability issues in Bohol.

The group committed to launch activities aimed at assessing the local government’s performance and accountability on public funds and generating feedback from the public on local officials’ compliance with anti-corruption laws.

The event was made possible through the financial support of the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID) and technical assistance from the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI).

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