New directions
New directions
Posted 11:25pm (Mla time) Feb 25, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the Febrauary 26, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
"PEOPLE Power against Corruption" was the theme of this year's Edsa commemoration, in many ways a step forward from the celebrations of previous years.
Just a few years after the first euphoric anniversaries, the celebration had degenerated into an exercise of political assessment. Media and political observers took to gauging the popularity of the current administration by counting the number of warm bodies massed on the highway or around the Edsa Shrine and People Power monument. The configurations of power and who was in current favor with the powers-that-be were tracked by studying the guest list at the annual commemorations, who got to sit on stage, or who got to play a role in the program. It got to a point that those in charge of organizing the event, throwing up their hands at the annual head-counting going on, were constrained to declare that the significance of the event, or the popularity of the players, shouldn't be judged by the size of the crowd alone or the heat with which the slogans were shouted or the hymns sung.
In time, as the Edsa anniversary grew more muted and fell into routine, an even worse fate befell the national ceremony of remembrance. It became a mere repository of memories, evoking proud reminiscences by the participants, but losing ground in terms of meaning among the young who were too young to understand what Edsa really meant, or who hadn't even been born when the uprising took place. Would Edsa go the way of our Independence Day celebrations? Or even present-day commemorations of World War II, which, while re-telling a story of both the horrors of war and the heroism of a generation, are barely observed by the descendants of both victims and victors?
* * *
PERHAPS to avoid this fate, and keep the lessons learned at Edsa still meaningful almost two decades after those glorious four days, the organizers of this year's event chose a theme that was as meaningful in 1986 as it still is, sadly, today.
A full-page ad put out by the Edsa People Power Commission points the way: "Let us put People Power to work again to fight the new enemy-the dictatorship of corruption, the dictatorship of poverty, and the dictatorship of opportunities stolen from a future generation."
To illustrate how serious and "real" this new people power struggle is, the early morning rites at the People Power Monument featured the signing (or the re-enactment of the signing) of memoranda of understanding between government offices and NGOs, led by the Coalition against Corruption, in focused and specific programs designed to curb corruption in the bureaucracy.
For instance, at the defense department, the Bishops-Businessmen's Conference, Procurement Watch and Makati Business Club will work together on the recruitment and training of volunteers who will be assigned as observers in bids and awards committees, to prevent corruption in the award of projects and contracts.
Expanding its original mission as an electoral watchdog, Namfrel will be working with the Department of Health on the monitoring of the delivery and inventory of medicines in all 75 DOH-retained hospitals and 15 "Centers for Health Development" nationwide. The program, it is hoped, will prevent "ghost" deliveries, under-delivery and overpricing of medicines.
* * *
THE DOH-Namfrel program is actually a replication of a formula that was proven highly effective when the DepEd let NGOs monitor and report to them on the delivery of textbooks in public schools. And to this end, G-Watch of the Ateneo School of Government, supported by the Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN), Namfrel and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, will work with the DepEd to further expand the textbook monitoring program, with the goal of getting more parents-teachers associations and NGOs involved in "ensuring the delivery of the right quantity and quality of books."
Of course, the two most notorious agencies when it comes to corruption are not exempt. At the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Makati Business Club and TAN will assist the agency in its campaign to raise revenues by improving collections and the agency's own internal systems. At the Bureau of Customs, the MBC and TAN will also help the agency raise revenue collection by preventing smuggling and improving its internal systems.
Even Congress is part of the program, albeit only indirectly. Code-NGO will be working with the Department of Public Works and Highways on monitoring projects funded through the PDAF of legislators "to ensure transparency in the use of the fund at the local level."
In all, there are 12 anti-corruption projects covered by MOAs signed by NGOs and private sector representatives with different government agencies. The presence of the department heads or other high-ranking officials at the signing rites signaled the government's wholehearted cooperation in the effort.
* * *
I ASKED Bill Luz, one of the organizers of the Coalition against Corruption, if there wasn't a danger that the NGO observers and members of bids and awards committees would be co-opted in the same manner that their counterparts in local governments have been.
He replied that one way of going around that risk is to put "our CEOs and really senior people from the private sector" to sit in the government bodies or to deal with officials. Under the tycoons' watchful eye, it is hoped, bureaucrats might not be too inclined to engage in their usual shenanigans.
Cory Aquino, in her brief talk at the end of the Mass at the Edsa Shrine, noted how so many people express frustration at the "failure" of Edsa without stopping to ask themselves if they had done their share to promote the Edsa spirit. Involvement in these NGOs and anti-corruption projects would be a good first step.
Posted 11:25pm (Mla time) Feb 25, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the Febrauary 26, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
"PEOPLE Power against Corruption" was the theme of this year's Edsa commemoration, in many ways a step forward from the celebrations of previous years.
Just a few years after the first euphoric anniversaries, the celebration had degenerated into an exercise of political assessment. Media and political observers took to gauging the popularity of the current administration by counting the number of warm bodies massed on the highway or around the Edsa Shrine and People Power monument. The configurations of power and who was in current favor with the powers-that-be were tracked by studying the guest list at the annual commemorations, who got to sit on stage, or who got to play a role in the program. It got to a point that those in charge of organizing the event, throwing up their hands at the annual head-counting going on, were constrained to declare that the significance of the event, or the popularity of the players, shouldn't be judged by the size of the crowd alone or the heat with which the slogans were shouted or the hymns sung.
In time, as the Edsa anniversary grew more muted and fell into routine, an even worse fate befell the national ceremony of remembrance. It became a mere repository of memories, evoking proud reminiscences by the participants, but losing ground in terms of meaning among the young who were too young to understand what Edsa really meant, or who hadn't even been born when the uprising took place. Would Edsa go the way of our Independence Day celebrations? Or even present-day commemorations of World War II, which, while re-telling a story of both the horrors of war and the heroism of a generation, are barely observed by the descendants of both victims and victors?
* * *
PERHAPS to avoid this fate, and keep the lessons learned at Edsa still meaningful almost two decades after those glorious four days, the organizers of this year's event chose a theme that was as meaningful in 1986 as it still is, sadly, today.
A full-page ad put out by the Edsa People Power Commission points the way: "Let us put People Power to work again to fight the new enemy-the dictatorship of corruption, the dictatorship of poverty, and the dictatorship of opportunities stolen from a future generation."
To illustrate how serious and "real" this new people power struggle is, the early morning rites at the People Power Monument featured the signing (or the re-enactment of the signing) of memoranda of understanding between government offices and NGOs, led by the Coalition against Corruption, in focused and specific programs designed to curb corruption in the bureaucracy.
For instance, at the defense department, the Bishops-Businessmen's Conference, Procurement Watch and Makati Business Club will work together on the recruitment and training of volunteers who will be assigned as observers in bids and awards committees, to prevent corruption in the award of projects and contracts.
Expanding its original mission as an electoral watchdog, Namfrel will be working with the Department of Health on the monitoring of the delivery and inventory of medicines in all 75 DOH-retained hospitals and 15 "Centers for Health Development" nationwide. The program, it is hoped, will prevent "ghost" deliveries, under-delivery and overpricing of medicines.
* * *
THE DOH-Namfrel program is actually a replication of a formula that was proven highly effective when the DepEd let NGOs monitor and report to them on the delivery of textbooks in public schools. And to this end, G-Watch of the Ateneo School of Government, supported by the Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN), Namfrel and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, will work with the DepEd to further expand the textbook monitoring program, with the goal of getting more parents-teachers associations and NGOs involved in "ensuring the delivery of the right quantity and quality of books."
Of course, the two most notorious agencies when it comes to corruption are not exempt. At the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Makati Business Club and TAN will assist the agency in its campaign to raise revenues by improving collections and the agency's own internal systems. At the Bureau of Customs, the MBC and TAN will also help the agency raise revenue collection by preventing smuggling and improving its internal systems.
Even Congress is part of the program, albeit only indirectly. Code-NGO will be working with the Department of Public Works and Highways on monitoring projects funded through the PDAF of legislators "to ensure transparency in the use of the fund at the local level."
In all, there are 12 anti-corruption projects covered by MOAs signed by NGOs and private sector representatives with different government agencies. The presence of the department heads or other high-ranking officials at the signing rites signaled the government's wholehearted cooperation in the effort.
* * *
I ASKED Bill Luz, one of the organizers of the Coalition against Corruption, if there wasn't a danger that the NGO observers and members of bids and awards committees would be co-opted in the same manner that their counterparts in local governments have been.
He replied that one way of going around that risk is to put "our CEOs and really senior people from the private sector" to sit in the government bodies or to deal with officials. Under the tycoons' watchful eye, it is hoped, bureaucrats might not be too inclined to engage in their usual shenanigans.
Cory Aquino, in her brief talk at the end of the Mass at the Edsa Shrine, noted how so many people express frustration at the "failure" of Edsa without stopping to ask themselves if they had done their share to promote the Edsa spirit. Involvement in these NGOs and anti-corruption projects would be a good first step.
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