DAVAO CITY—Interior Government Secretary Jesse Robredo has joined at least 20 civil-society organizations (CSOs) in Mindanao, together with officials of The Asia Foundation (TAF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in taking the ambitious, bold and historic first step toward a more transparent and accountable governance in Mindanao.

“Let us always remember why we are doing this: We are not interested in transparency for transparency’s sake; we are not interested in accountability for the sake of accountability. We are interested because transparency and accountability will deliver better outcomes for the people we are serving,” Robredo said in his keynote address during the launching of the Budget Tracking for Transparent Accountable Governance (BTTAG) in the Mindanao Project at the Grand Regal Hotel here on Wednesday.

Robredo said that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is fully supporting the project “because this is in line with what we would like to do in so far as the DILG is concerned.”

The BTTAG project, according to project manager Paul Richard Paraguya of the Balay Mindanaw Foundation Inc. (BMFI), is “a journey toward enhancing local budgeting.”

The project “is not a budget watch. We are not here to watch the local governments. We are here for a journey—to improve transparency and accountability and institute policy advocacy,” he said.

Paraguya said the BTTAG project is an answer to the mandate enshrined in the Constitution and Local Government Code for nongovernment organizations to get involved in local government in the pursuit of local autonomy.

The BTTAG project is the initiative of the Mindanao Coalition of Development NGOs (MinCODE) in partnership with The Asia Foundation and local government units (LGUs) and fully supported by the USAID, said MinCODE chairman Andrea Maria Patricia “Pat” Mangrobang-Sarenas.

“Project BTTAG will give opportunities for us, CSOs, to work in closer partnership with our respective LGUs to build transparency and accountability in fiscal management of local government resources” Sarenas said.

In his keynote speech during the BTTAG project launching here, Robredo underscored the importance of “stakeholdership,” as he noted that “leadership is a shared responsibility.”

He said that during his incumbency as mayor of Naga City, his administration was able to effect a strong partnership with the CSOs and private sector with the establishment of the Naga City People’s Council.

“If we have to impose the obligation on the constituency, it is necessary that they should know why we are imposing these obligations on them. If we need to raise taxes, the people have the right to be informed how we are using public money and the only way to inform them is to open the books of City Hall. Aside from getting pogi points because the city government has become transparent, the other important element is that we were able to get stakeholdership on difficult things that we need to do in the city,” he said

Dr. Maria Rendon, acting chief of the USAID-Philippines’ Office of Economic Development and Governance, underscored the need to strengthen CSOs’ involvement in local governance finances because “after all, tax administration, expenditure management, investment priorities, public financial management, budget preparation and budget execution all affect development, governance and public welfare.”

“The local budget reflects the bottom line priorities of a local government. It determines the number of school buildings to be constructed, infrastructure priorities, the quality of health services and many other aspects of public service. Designing, allocating and executing local government budgets, therefore, require a sound and robust check and balance system that greatly involves the citizens,” she said.

Steven A. Rood, regional adviser on local governance and concurrent country representative of The Asia Foundation, also stressed the importance of establishing a strong partnership between LGUs and CSOs, especially because “almost two decades after its enactment in 1991, the Local Government Code has yet to fulfill its promise of building self-reliant communities that contribute to national development — because many local government units lack the needed mechanisms to effect transparency and accountability.”

On Aug. 12, The Asia Foundation and USAID unveiled the results of a Rapid Field Appraisal on Decentralization (RFAD).

“One of the key findings of this assessment is the need to strengthen citizen participation and social accountability in such areas as planning and the budgeting process at the local level,” Rendon said.

Rood added that the result of the RFAD showed LGUs are working hard to improve revenue and services and their gradual opening up to public scrutiny are being negated by the lack of adequate information share with the public, which in turn, limited public scrutiny and citizen feedback.

Whatever information was shared with the public, he said, were confined to projects, activities and accomplishments “with few local governments providing information on financial reports and transactions.”

Rood urged local government to ask themselves if they are strategically planning and budgeting for their localities, if they are responding to the needs of the people and if the LGUs are improving the quality of life of their constituents.

“Local government funds are public funds, and expanding them should never be the monopoly of the local governments,” he stressed.

Rood was taking a cue from Robredo, who in a separate occasion, had earlier underscored that the final test of leadership in the government is whether the ordinary Filipino has felt its impact and ensuring that government programs and projects are working for and benefiting them.

On July 28 during the “Leadership Development for Social Change: Building A Community of Practice” conference at the Asian Institute of Management  in Makati City, Robredo said that one of his top priorities as DILG secretary is to tap the active involvement and participation of NGOs and the private sector in local governments in order to effect responsive development projects at the local level.

“We should continuously harness the role that the people and the different sectors can play in governance,” he said. “Partnership is the key to a transparent and accountable governance. But like all other partnership,s nothing is perfect. But this should not hinder LGUs and the private sector and CSOs from working together for the good of the people. There is neither perfect government nor perfect partnership, but we all need to work together for this major, major endeavor,” Rood said.