Given the pursuit of exorbitant discretionary funds and perks granted by officials to themselves in the different government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) such as the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) – it is clear the Aquino government has been taking bold steps to track down and punish those who abused the system during the previous administration.

But what about the future? Will there be future exposes and Commission on Audit (COA) reports that will highlight abusive spending on perks by officials in 2011, or 2012? What exactly is the system that allows for discretionary funds and public perks?

 The Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) delves into some of the laws, rules and regulations in an effort to understand past and current practices. It is sometimes said that what is allowable is not always right – and what is right is not always allowed.

The proposed 30 percent water rate increase—pending at the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA)—proposed by the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) on June 1, 2011 has revived calls to turn the facility into a cooperative.

“We will fight this increase. We will be forced to intervene since water is a very basic service. I’m not against turning the water district into a cooperative,” said city councilor Alden Bacal -- present chair of the committee on public utilities -- while past committee chair Ian Mark Nacaya said discussion on the proposal to turn the COWD into a consumers’ cooperative should be made and studied again in view of the planned increase in water rates.

The pronouncements came after Roman Catholic Archbishop Antonio Ledesma and his group Bishop-Businessmen's Conference (BBC) asked the Commission on Audit (COA) for copies of its reports on the COWD's finances from 2007 to 2010. The group wants to examine the finances of the facility and its management.