Community-based monitoring system
>> Thursday, March 16, 2017
BANTAY GOBYERNO
Ike Señeres
It is customary for
scientists to classify flora and fauna as either extinct or rare, depending on
how their species are surviving in the earth. To some extent, this manner of
classification is also applied to humans, as there are tribes that also become
extinct or rare, in both cases they are already threatened, so to speak.
Not that I would want
to compare politicians to plants and animals, but I have always had difficulty
in looking for mayors who are not corrupt, in other words honest.
I know that I am not
the only one who thinks that way, but there are others among us who are
inclined to picture politicians as being either crocodiles or as snakes. I
really do not think that way, but in my search for honest mayors, I am often
reminded about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, wherein the Lord tried to
look for even ten righteous persons, but failed to find any.
Not that I would want
to think like a pessimist, but until last week, I was already starting to think
that honest
mayors are already
either extinct or rare as a species. Last week however, I attended the 13th
Annual Summit of the Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS) and to my
surprise, I met not just one, not just two, but a ballroom full of honest
mayors, with several hundreds more outside who could not enter because the
ballroom was already jam packed to the brim.
Of course there was no
way for me to judge whether they are really honest or not, but I could
definitely say that they are not corrupt, because they are now implementing a
transparent monitoring system that would make it difficult to divert or steal
public funds. Right there and there, I concluded that their species is neither
extinct nor rare, but is actually growing in numbers.
During the three day
summit, I also got an eerie feeling while listening to the speakers and the
audience talking about data all day. That was really a strange experience for
me, because I have never seen or heard that many people talking about data as
much as I do, considering that I talk and write about data all the time. As it
turned out, all that fuzz about data was driven by the fact that the entire
CBMS approach is focused on evidence based decision making. What that means is
that without data, there could be no evidence, and without evidence, those who
are subscribed to CBMS would not make decisions. That may sound so simple, but
actually, CBMS is a complex system of data gathering through methodical census
taking.
As I learned during
the summit, all mayors are required to submit their own Comprehensive Land Use
Plan (CLUP) that is supposed to be the basis for preparing their own
Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP).
As I understand it,
the CDP is supposed to already incorporate other sub plans such as the Local
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan (LDRRMP) and the Annual Procurement
Plan (APP). As it is supposed to be, the CDP should clearly indicate and
explain how the Local Government Units (LGUs) would spend their Internal
Revenue Allocations (IRAs).
Since all LGUs are
also supposed to have their own Local Development Councils (LDCs), it goes
without saying that the CLUP, the CDP, the LDRRMP and the APP all have to be
approved by the LDCs. All these may already be difficult for these honest
mayors to hurdle, but they could not stop with these four local plans, because
they are also required to align these with the Philippine Development Plan
(PDP) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.
In theory, the entire
CDP planning process is supposed to be covered by the Bottom up Budgeting (BUB)
approach of the national government. What that means is that the municipal CDP
should actually be an aggregation of all the barangay CDPs. Going upwards, the
provincial CDP is also supposed to be an aggregation of the municipal CDPs.
While that may sound
like it is difficult to do, in reality, that could be done easily if the LDCs
at the barangay, municipal and provincial levels are regularly convened as they
are supposed to be convened as required by the Local Government Code (LGC).
Going further upwards, the provincial CDPs are supposed to be discussed in the
agendas of the Regional Development Councils (RDCs). Again in theory, the RDCs
are the ones that are supposed to bring up the regional plans to the national
level of the PDP, by way of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).
As I learned in my
many years in the government service, corruption happens whenever there is
discretion. Conversely, there would be no corruption if there is no discretion
on the part of the decision makers. Having said that, I would not hesitate to
say further that evidence based decision making would leave little room for
discretion, especially if these decisions are made during the meetings of the
LDCs that are supposed to be in the open, in other words, transparent.
As it is supposed to
be however, all the rules of public meetings should be followed, including the
advanced distribution of agenda items, and the fair and honest approval of the
minutes of the meetings. Kudos to the honest mayors may their tribe increase!
Kudos also to the good people behind CBMS, notably Dr. Celia Reyes!
For feedback email
iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639956441780
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