THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Office of the Ombudsman recently forged ties to strengthen the Aquino administration’s anti-corruption campaign.
The DILG and Office of the Ombudsman, under an agreement signed by Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and Ombdusman Conchita Carpio- Morales, will harmonize programs and initiatives of the two agencies to prevent corruption.
The agreement was signed during the DILG’s Biyaheng Pinoy, culminating the 20th Anniversary of the Local Government Code held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
Corruption is one of the challenges faced by local governments as it affects the quality of public services, investment climate and economic development, Robredo said.
Since local governments, by nature, closely deal with people, effects of corruption are quickly felt; hence, there is a need to build a partnership with the Ombudsman and come up with preventive measures against corruption in lcal governments, he stressed.
Robredo said both agencies vowed to work together in promoting good governance in the local governments by harmonizing their respective reform programs.
Robredo cited the Integrity Development Review (IDR) program of the OMB, which will be matched with the Local Governance Performance Management System (LGPMS) and Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) programs of the DILG.
The IDR is a program that assesses sufficiency of corruption safeguards and corruption vulnerabilities within an agency’s systems, including those of the local governments, while the LGPMS is a self-assessment and development tool that helps local governments determine their progress in various sectors.
On the other hand, the SGH is an award program recognizing performing local governments based on pre-determined performance indicators, making them eligible for accessing the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF).
Robredo explained that the collaborative efforts of the two agencies will come into play by using selected indicators of the IDR as indicators for the SGH and LGPMS, and in like manner, the LGPMS integrity report can be used by the IDR as guide in determining LGUs’ action to scale up corruption prevention or integrity-related initiatives.
To effectively carry out the agreement, a Joint Management Committee (JMC) and a Joint Technical Working Group (JTWG) to be composed of officials and personnel from the DILG and the OMB shall be created.
The JMC and JTWG shall provide overall guidance in the implementation of the program and ensure coordination among local government units.
The agreement, likewise, provides for the designation of Resident Ombudsman Coordinators in all local government units to be recommended by the local chief executive.
