THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
NGOs in local governance (2)

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Another mode of participation of NGOs in local governance is membership in the local special bodies in the LGU. These local special bodies are the appendages set up by the code to help the chief executive dispense more effectively his duties and responsibilities in serving the public.

These special bodies like the Local Development Council, Local Peace and Order Council, Bids and Awards Committee, People’s Law Enforcement Boards, Local Health Boards and Local School Boards, have NGO representatives in their respective compositions. The development councils contains the greatest number of NGO members as it is required that not less than one-fourth of the whole membership thereof is made up of NGO members. Coming next is the local peace and order councils in which four or more members come from the locally operating NGOs/private sector or civil society groups.

The downside in this, though, is that most NGO members of these special bodies should be duly accredited by the local legislative councils before they could become members. The process of accreditation is quite stringent to ensure that only legitimate NGOs who satisfy the requirements should be accredited.

In this area, many NGOs who want to become members of the local special bodies are discomfited and unnerved by the rigor of accreditation on account of deficiencies in the requirements. Meanwhile, NGO memberships in other committees outside of the local special bodies do not require accreditation by local legislative councils.

The most open and available participation of NGOs and civil society groups for that matter is the barangay assemblies which is conducted twice a year which is at least once a semester. These are usually conducted in March 21 for the first semester and October 21 for the second semester. In this, civil society groups could evaluate incisively the annual accomplishment report of the barangay officials.

This is focused on how they fared in the extent of implementation of the programs, projects and activities of the development plan of the past year. Aside from this, they could also join the constituents in scrutinizing the proposed executive budget for the forthcoming year. By the same token, they could also scrutinize if the projects listed in their annual development plan really conforms to the primordial needs of the greatest number of the constituents.

Other avenues for participation by the NGOs in local governance is the processes of recall, initiative and referendum but which are rarely utilized. Recall is the withdrawal of support from an elective official by the electorate due to loss of confidence as had once been expounded in this column. Initiative, on the other hand, is a process “whereby registered voters of a local government unit may directly propose, enact, or amend any ordinance.” For referendum, it is “a process whereby the registered voters of a local government unit may approve, amend or reject any ordinance enacted by the sanggunian.”

Succinctly put, as the constitution and the statutes recognize the contribution of NGOs or civil society groups in nation-building, it is up to the latter to maximize its participation in governance. By all accounts, their contributions is immeasurable in the past and present especially in monitoring the excesses and abuses of those in the helms of power.

The participation of NGOs in exposing government excesses that culminated in the two EDSAs in which two abusive presidents were ousted is no doubt a milestone in history. It is for this that the code opened a lot of avenues for civil society groups to have a part and a say in governance. Also, aside from being in line with the dictate of the constitution, it is also ensure that their participation is always within the bounds, ambit and sphere of our laws.