Samar’s anti-corruption group moves on

Samar’s anti-corruption group moves on
By EMY C. BONIFACIO, Samar News.com

CATBALOGAN, Samar – Samar’s anti-corruption group, Multi-sectoral Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA-Samar), convened on October 9 at Tony’s Kitchen in Catbalogan for a whole day organizational structuring and workshop planning on the various activities that the group would undertake for this quarter. Despite holding the activity on a weekend, the session had at least 20 members from its core member-organizations participating actively in the workshop. The attendees came from the Samarnews.com, Alliance of Concerned Employees of Samar (ACES), Social Action Center (SAC), Tandaya, Isog han Samar, academe, group of volunteer lawyers and parish priests.

In its visioning, the group identified a participatory democracy, responsive governance and an empowered citizenry as factors in achieving a progressive and peaceful Samar. It envisions Samar to be a livable community that is corruption-free and whose quality basic services would be accessible to everyone. Specifically, MATA would focus on the monitoring of infrastructure projects that are being implemented, engage on budget tracking and procurement and the delivery of social services. A feedback mechanism such as “Ulat ng Bayan”, scorecards and other accountability reporting tools will be facilitated to effectively monitor the performance of local government units. Efforts on establishing linkages with other agencies and networks are considered in its sustainability. At the same time, capacity building for all sectors will be undertaken to professionally develop and capacitate its members. These activities will be handled by the various working committees created directly under the supervision of an Executive Committee. Its respective functions and memberships were properly delineated on the same forum. The organization will be drafting its constitution and by-laws as a pre-requisite for its immediate registration at the Securities and Exchange Commission. MATA-Samar considers this imperative in seeking official representation in the different development councils in the locality. An official logo, distinctly representing the vision, missions and objectives of the anti-graft body will soon be publicly out. While a MATA website is waiting to be developed and maintained, Samarnons are encouraged to actively participate in the discussions and post related experiences and photos on a newly created “Facebook” account of MATA-Samar. Furthermore, updates of its activities are posted at Samarnews.com (online and print editions). Likewise, a weekly media forum will be initiated to engage local government officials and generate public feedback. “We are very happy that initiatives of this kind are being facilitated. Somehow, this will bring Samar to progress. A consolidated effort of the public sector and the civil society organizations is a means towards achieving fiscal accountability and transparency”, comments Mr. Dominador Cabanganan, President of the Samar Chamber of Commerce and Industry. MATA-Samar’s efforts are being reinforced by a Memorandum of Agreement signed for and between the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Samar Island Partnership for Peace and Development (SIPPAD). It would be recalled that the said MOA was signed on September 22, 2010 by the DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo and the three (3) Bishops of Samar as representatives of the respective contracting parties. The MOA encourages CSO engagement in all government transactions for transparency and accountability purposes. In a related story, MATA-Samar has been officially recognized as a member of the Millennium Challenge Account, a local monitoring counterpart that will take a major role in the implementation of the 222 km. road network from Brgy. Buray, Paranas Samar to Guiuan, Eastern Samar and the KALAHI-CIDSS. The project is part of the $434 million Millennium Challenge Corporation fund released by the U.S. foreign aid agency to address global poverty. As a requirement, beneficiaries should be committed to good governance, economic freedom and investments in their citizens. As of press time, data gathering and documentation on infrastructure projects implemented by the provincial government are ongoing. A complete listing of all these projects is requested from the concerned offices for monitoring. At the same time, MATA is watching closely the preparation of the Provincial Annual Budget for 2011. MATA is in possession of an Office Memorandum signed by Governor Sharee Ann T. Tan requesting for all Chiefs of Offices to attend a Budget hearing on the 2011 Annual Budget Proposals at the Governor’s residence on October 7, 2010 t 4:00 pm. MATA believes that budget hearings are public transactions, thus, should be conducted openly and during office hours for transparency reasons. “The practice should be discouraged since this is not in accordance with the guidelines set. Budget hearings are participatory and the public has the right to be informed,” a MATA member asserts.