ADVOCATES OF ACCOUNTABILITY. Multi-sectoral representatives form CANA-Pampanga.
PHOTO BY BONG LACSON
CLARK FREEPORT – Kapampangans belonging to different organizations have joined the call for a more transparent government by banding with the Citizen Action Network for Accountability (CANA) which “aims to help improve the level and quality of public services provided to our communities in general and to the poorest among us in particular.”
During an initial meeting held at the Café Mesa Restaurant here last Saturday, CANA project manager Rorie Reyes Fajardo said the emphasis is in giving ordinary citizens the opportunity to be more active in demanding accountability from their government officials.
Fajardo said even if the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill is taking too long to be passed into a law, ordinary citizens could still monitor the actions of public officials by demanding accountability and reporting government wrongdoing in social media.
CANA’s aim is to organize the citizens all over the country through a system of networking and give them information technology tools with which to monitor and report on their local governments on how public money is spent through the internet.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)-Pampanga Chapter helped organized the initial meeting here with NUJP Vice Chairman Alwyn Alburo who accompanied Fajardo. CANA’s website (www.citizenaction. net), said the program “has been designed around the principle that the more we as ordinary Filipinos can start to understand how local government works, the more we can monitor, engage, shape – and ultimately ensure it is always working for us.”
Joining the introductory meeting organized by the NUJP were representatives from GV 99.1, Tau Gama Phi Fraternity, Advocacy for the Development of Central Luzon (ADCL), Guardians, Central Luzon TV 36 (CLTV-36), Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (MACCII), Save the Trees Coalition, the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Association (CREBA), Punto Central Luzon and the Angeles City Press and Radio Club.
A lively discussion of the issues on public transparency and accountability plaguing the different cities and municipalities in the province were exchanged.
Noting the discussions, Fajardo said among these were the “lack of transparency in the use of 20 percent development fund particularly in the barangay level; lack of consultation in implementing projects which pose harm to the environment; and lack of information on road widening projects and other multi-billion government projects.”
Fajardo also noted MACCII President Frankie Villanueva’s statement that Angeles City already has an ordinance enacted in 2011 encouraging citizens’ participation in the processes of local governments.
Ordinance 295, also known as the “Empowerment Ordinance of Angeles City,” aims to build and strengthen partnerships between the city government and civil society. “We should make sure this is implemented. Participation is important especially in the legislative process,” Villanueva said.
NUJP-Pampanga agreed to serve as CANA-Pampanga’s secretariat. The group will have its first training on monitoring and reporting public transparency under CANA within the month. The group also expressed support for the passage of the FOI by signing in a nationwide online petition which CANA supports.
CANA is a partnership between the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), NUJP, the Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD), and MindaNews.
