Technologies for governance

PUNCHLINE

Ike Señeres

Governance is a process that involves both the government and the governed. In other words, in order for governance to work, the government and the people have to work together in order to make it succeed, the people being the governed. On the other hand however, the people have the general tendency to leave it to the government to do everything for them, and more often than not, the people would blame the government officials if they do not get what they want.

In theory, the representatives of the people in the Congress (being both the House and the Senate) are supposed to consult with their constituents. In practice, that would be easy for the district representatives, because they have their Local Development Councils (LDCs) to consult with. The party list representatives could do that too, provided that they could convene their own sectoral councils, sectoral representation being the purpose behind the party list system.

It might be difficult for the senators to consult with all of their constituents, because they have a national constituency. However, they have all the means to know and feel the pulse of the people, and nothing would also prevent them from reading the reports of the LDCs and the sectoral councils, assuming that they are diligent in submitting their reports. Since there are too many LDCs in all levels, perhaps the senators could just read the reports of the Regional Development Councils (RDCs).

Aside from its many other duties, the principal preoccupation of the Congress is the passing of the General Appropriations Act (GAA), being the national budget of the government. In very simple terms, this whole exercise is just a normal process of budgeting, accounting and auditing, and it should not get that complicated. Under the GAA, no funds could be allocated for private organizations, and that is why the allocations are always given to government agencies or entities.

That being the case, the accounting responsibility belongs to them.

Under our system of government, the auditing responsibility belongs to the Commission on Audit (COA). The system of the American government is different from ours, because over there, the auditing responsibility belongs to a committee of the American Congress. By comparison, the American system appears to be more logical, since they are following the legal fiction that the allocator of the funds should also be the auditor.

Because of our system, it is presumed that our Congress has no choice but to rely entirely on the auditing reports of the COA.

Aside from its routine duties, the additional function of all government agencies and entities is to work towards the attainment of the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). That being the case, the additional purpose of the GAA is to fund the MTPDP and the MDGs. Since that is the case, it should follow that the purpose of the auditing process should not only be the proper use of the allocated funds, but also the proper attainment of these two goals.

Generally speaking, the main purposes of governance are to deliver public services on one hand, and to achieve national development goals on the other hand. While the first purpose is understandably routine oriented in nature, the expectations in the second purpose are supposed to be much higher. By comparison, the delivery of public services is a short term objective, whereas the attainment of national development goals is a long term objective.

What is really lacking at all LDCs is a database system that will record all public service and development needs, and at the same time monitor the progress of providing for these needs. There are many ways of recording and monitoring these needs, but the best way would be an interactive and participatory database that would enable the people not only to know what is happening, but also to say what they want to say, using any available means of communications.

It’s just too bad that the reputation of non-government organizations (NGOs) have been smeared in some pork barrel scams. In reality however, not all NGOs are tainted, and they are still very much needed in the process of government.

Together with the rest of the civil society of which they are part of, they comprise the “people” part of governance, the more active elements of our society who are doing something for the common good.

The databases of the LDCs should be hosted by the local government units (LGUs) so that the local officials could also use these for their own public service and development needs. Up until recently, it was very difficult to operate and maintain databases, but that has changed now, with the arrival of cloud computing and data center virtualization. Recently also, the convergence of technologies has already included the energy component, and that is good, because the newer computers and servers now are more energy efficient.

Since I know for a fact that most LDCs at all levels do not have their own databases, I would be willing to help them in putting these up, starting with some free advisory services. Needless to say, these databases should also include their own geographic information systems (GIS) that are very much necessary in putting up or preparing their comprehensive land use plans (CLUPs).

For feedback, email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639083159262