Opinion
Written by Liling Magtolis Briones / Boiled Green Bananas
BUSINESS MIRROR, Sunday, 27 June 2010 20:50
On June 30 the oath-taking ceremonies for President-elect Noynoy C. Aquino and Vice President-elect Jejomar Binay will usher in a new administration. A new Congress will also be convened. There will be 55 congressmen and women representing party lists when the House of Representatives starts its sessions. This is in fulfillment of the constitutional provision which requires representation for marginalized sectors in lawmaking.
Ely Manalansan, in his study on the party-list system, quotes former Supreme Court Justice Artemio Panganiban thus: “the system is intended as a social-justice tool designed not only to give more law to the great masses of our people who have less in life, but also to enable them to become veritable lawmakers themselves, empowered to participate directly in the enactment of laws designed to benefit them.”
Has the constitutional intention been complied with? It has been 12 years since the party-list system was implemented in 1998. While the number of party-lists running for office has increased, doubts have been increasingly expressed about their effectiveness. Studies on party-list performance have shown that many party lists do not necessarily represent marginalized sectors. The definition of marginalized sectors has been much abused. Further, the party-list record of performance in terms of bills filed and laws passed has been perceived as woefully inadequate.
Certain quarters have been calling for the abolition of the party-list system. Throwing out the baby along with the bath water may not be the solution. Even with all the abuses associated with it, the party-list system nevertheless provides a window of opportunity for the truly marginalized to be represented. The challenge is to continue engaging the system and be part of initiatives to fulfill the intentions of the Constitutions.
One way is to enhance the capacities of the party-list legislators to make them more effective in legislative work and better serve their constituents in the marginalized sectors.
A special course for party-list legislators
Last week the public was titillated with the news that celebrities and national personalities were undergoing special training as district congressmen and women, and local government officials. The trainings were conducted by the Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy and the Center for Regional and Local Governance, both of the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG).
From July 5 to 10, another NCPAG unit, the Center for Policy and Executive Development, will conduct a capacity enhancement course specifically for party-list legislators. The course director is yours truly.
What is special about party lists?
While all members of the House of Representatives are apparently “the same,” party lists do have special requirements. First, their constituents are national in scope and are not limited to geographical districts. Second, they are expected to represent, protect and serve the interests of a very specific sector—the marginalized and the excluded. Thus, unlike district congressmen, they are not expected to file bills and pass laws for the business sector. They are expected to sponsor resolutions, file bills and pass laws which directly benefit the marginalized, particularly the agricultural sector, landless rural poor, urban poor, fisherfolk and indigenous peoples.
Third, it is likely that more civil-society organizations and voluntary service organizations will engage them on alternative solutions to national problems. For example, the Alternative Budget Initiative convened by Social Watch Philippines will be of special interest to them since the main beneficiaries will be the marginalized.
Proposed subjects
Subjects to be discussed include the basics of good governance. Governance includes public participation, transparency, predictability, level playing field and accountability. The intention of the Constitution in setting up the party-list system will also be discussed.
Public financial management will be a major topic, with the course director herself handling the subject. The passage of the General Appropriation Act is the most important output of the legislature. It is, therefore, imperative for party-list legislators to have a full grasp of the public-finance cycle, the budget process and the Alternative Budget Initiative.
Other subjects include policy analyses and dialogues with grassroots organizations.
The faculty is a mix of experts as well as professionals who have direct experience in congressional work.
Yes, the participation of party-list legislators can be enhanced further. They do matter, especially to the marginalized.
Please address inquiries to Ms. Bernardia Briones and Clarisa Sia at Tels. 920-1353 and 925-4030.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
So long, Dodo
So long, Dodo
Opinion
Written by Liling Magtolis Briones / Boiled Green Bananas
Business mirror, Sunday, 13 June 2010 22:49
The country has just lost one of its best governors: Emilio “Dodo” C. Macias II, newly reelected governor of Negros Oriental. The loss of Dodo will be keenly felt not only in the province and the rest of the Visayas but the entire country, as well. Dodo is recognized also in international circles as one of the most innovative local officials in the Philippines.
The role of local government units (LGUs) in national development has been recognized since the ’50s. Outstanding LGUs and local executives have been awarded and recognized nationally and internationally. The Galing Pook Award is one of the leading institutions which publicly recognizes and rewards outstanding LGU performance. The United Nations Development Program has also given recognition to outstanding LGUs.
These LGUs and their executives serve as role models to fellow LGUs. They give hope to those who despair that local governments are also infected with the malaise, cynicism and dirty politics which typifies national governance. These LGUs have proven that with dynamic leadership and support from their communities, development can happen even with minimal resource assistance from the national government.
Negros Oriental is one such province. Under the leadership of Governor Macias II, followed by George Arnaiz, and later back to Dodo, the province and its municipalities have won a vast array of awards for innovative development projects. No year passes without a city, municipality or the province itself receiving recognition and reward. Because it has been recognized as “Outstanding Province” by Galing Pook many times over, Negros Oriental has been elevated to the Hall of Fame.
Dodo’s final journey
Early this morning, text messages announced the passing away of Dodo at 3 a.m. yesterday. He succumbed to multiple complications from cancer after surviving a bruising provincial electoral campaign and winning another term as governor of Negros Oriental.
Dodo is a product of two of the leading educational institutions in the country—Silliman University and University of the Philippines (UP). He completed his high school and pre-medical course at Silliman and his medical studies at the University of the Philippines. In Silliman, he learned the Christian values of community work and caring for the poor. In UP he acquired the passion for professional excellence. He applied his learnings from these two universities in his work as a public servant of the province on which he poured all his affection and dedicated service.
Dodo’s greatest legacy
Irma Faith Pal of Dumaguete Metropost asked me what I believe is the greatest legacy of Dodo. His greatest legacy is his strategy of uniting communities in activities and projects which rely on traditional cultural values like alayon or bayanihan, kurambos or cost-sharing and burden sharing, and “sweat equity” or contributions in the form of labor.
Negros Oriental and its municipalities have reaped many awards for projects based on community participation, and not on external funding. I know all of them, having written a number of case studies on the province for the United Nations Development Program.
I am familiar with his Community Hospital program which he started in 1988, long before awards became fashionable. Dodo did not wait for budget allocations from the national government and international organizations. He mobilized the local host barangay, and municipality and asked them to give financial and material support while the local community provided labor, food for the patients and tended vegetable gardens. This concept has been replicated by many other provinces.
I wrote another case study about the “Tabo sa Provincial Agriculturist’s Office” which created a market for farmers’ produce without going through middlemen. This project won a special citation from the United Nations Development Program.
During my last interview with him, he was waxing eloquent over his Government Agricultural Development Center (Gadcent) which pilots the growing of vegetables and other crops, and the development of fishponds—all based on organic agriculture. He was developing a health-insurance scheme for the province which already caught the eye of national officials. A few days before election, he was working out a scheme for providing the province with advanced medical equipment and services.
I cannot forget our long conversation at Gadcent, “I have always loved agriculture. Food is basic. Failure is not an option. I like competing. I want to start something new all the time and take the road less traveled. People are interested in my projects because I give them the support they need.”
So long, Dodo.
Opinion
Written by Liling Magtolis Briones / Boiled Green Bananas
Business mirror, Sunday, 13 June 2010 22:49
The country has just lost one of its best governors: Emilio “Dodo” C. Macias II, newly reelected governor of Negros Oriental. The loss of Dodo will be keenly felt not only in the province and the rest of the Visayas but the entire country, as well. Dodo is recognized also in international circles as one of the most innovative local officials in the Philippines.
The role of local government units (LGUs) in national development has been recognized since the ’50s. Outstanding LGUs and local executives have been awarded and recognized nationally and internationally. The Galing Pook Award is one of the leading institutions which publicly recognizes and rewards outstanding LGU performance. The United Nations Development Program has also given recognition to outstanding LGUs.
These LGUs and their executives serve as role models to fellow LGUs. They give hope to those who despair that local governments are also infected with the malaise, cynicism and dirty politics which typifies national governance. These LGUs have proven that with dynamic leadership and support from their communities, development can happen even with minimal resource assistance from the national government.
Negros Oriental is one such province. Under the leadership of Governor Macias II, followed by George Arnaiz, and later back to Dodo, the province and its municipalities have won a vast array of awards for innovative development projects. No year passes without a city, municipality or the province itself receiving recognition and reward. Because it has been recognized as “Outstanding Province” by Galing Pook many times over, Negros Oriental has been elevated to the Hall of Fame.
Dodo’s final journey
Early this morning, text messages announced the passing away of Dodo at 3 a.m. yesterday. He succumbed to multiple complications from cancer after surviving a bruising provincial electoral campaign and winning another term as governor of Negros Oriental.
Dodo is a product of two of the leading educational institutions in the country—Silliman University and University of the Philippines (UP). He completed his high school and pre-medical course at Silliman and his medical studies at the University of the Philippines. In Silliman, he learned the Christian values of community work and caring for the poor. In UP he acquired the passion for professional excellence. He applied his learnings from these two universities in his work as a public servant of the province on which he poured all his affection and dedicated service.
Dodo’s greatest legacy
Irma Faith Pal of Dumaguete Metropost asked me what I believe is the greatest legacy of Dodo. His greatest legacy is his strategy of uniting communities in activities and projects which rely on traditional cultural values like alayon or bayanihan, kurambos or cost-sharing and burden sharing, and “sweat equity” or contributions in the form of labor.
Negros Oriental and its municipalities have reaped many awards for projects based on community participation, and not on external funding. I know all of them, having written a number of case studies on the province for the United Nations Development Program.
I am familiar with his Community Hospital program which he started in 1988, long before awards became fashionable. Dodo did not wait for budget allocations from the national government and international organizations. He mobilized the local host barangay, and municipality and asked them to give financial and material support while the local community provided labor, food for the patients and tended vegetable gardens. This concept has been replicated by many other provinces.
I wrote another case study about the “Tabo sa Provincial Agriculturist’s Office” which created a market for farmers’ produce without going through middlemen. This project won a special citation from the United Nations Development Program.
During my last interview with him, he was waxing eloquent over his Government Agricultural Development Center (Gadcent) which pilots the growing of vegetables and other crops, and the development of fishponds—all based on organic agriculture. He was developing a health-insurance scheme for the province which already caught the eye of national officials. A few days before election, he was working out a scheme for providing the province with advanced medical equipment and services.
I cannot forget our long conversation at Gadcent, “I have always loved agriculture. Food is basic. Failure is not an option. I like competing. I want to start something new all the time and take the road less traveled. People are interested in my projects because I give them the support they need.”
So long, Dodo.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Inquirer News, May 31, 2010
Palace dares Aquino to sustain economic growth
By Christian V. Esguerra, Alex PalPhilippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: May 31, 2010
MANILA, Philippines—The next administration will have no one to blame but itself should the country’s economic growth sputter after growing 7.3 percent during the first quarter of the year, Malacañang said Sunday.
“The wind is at their back. The Arroyo administration has given them momentum. They shouldn’t waste this,” said Gary Olivar, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s deputy spokesperson.
Olivar said that if the economic growth slowed down—despite the momentum given to the next administration—it would be held accountable.
At the weekly Malacañang media forum on Radyo ng Bayan, he challenged presumptive president-elect Benigno Aquino III to focus on sustaining the growth the Palace credited to Ms Arroyo’s economic policies.
Aquino, along with other lawmakers and militant groups, downplayed the economic growth, saying it was but the result of the huge spending during the election campaign.
“If Senator Aquino thinks our economic growth only came from campaign spending, all I can say is this, ‘That’s a lot of tarpaulins, Senator,’” Olivar said sarcastically.
He said that so many campaign paraphernalia should have been produced to affect the manufacturing sector, which registered a 20-percent growth.
“We’d mentioned that campaign spending in the recent elections would have less effect than in the previous elections because ways of campaigning were now more modern,” Olivar said.
Officials to explain growth
He said details of the economic growth—particularly the supposedly minimal effect of campaign spending—would be made public on Wednesday in a Malacañang press conference.
Tapped to do the explaining were officials from the National Economic and Development Authority, National Statistics Office (NSO), and the National Statistical Coordination Board.
Olivar said Aquino should give Ms Arroyo, the senator’s economics professor at Ateneo de Manila University, some credit for the economic growth.
“These are the numbers,” he said. “The problem is he’s shooting from the hip again. He doesn’t set his target. He just shoots and shoots. I don’t think this (approach) is proper because he will now become the president of our country,” he said.
Olivar added: “He’s no longer a candidate. He’s now a president-in-waiting.”
He said Aquino should “appreciate” Ms Arroyo’s efforts, noting that “he will see in due course the burdens of the presidency.”
But, of course, we continue to wish him the best and we appeal to all to give him their full support,” he said.
No poverty reduction
Former National Treasurer Leonor Briones agreed that the positive predictions of economic growth for 2010 were premised on the holding of successful elections, which had been welcomed by international and local business communities.
The Philippine experience, however, shows that economic growth has not resulted in poverty reduction because there are more poor people now than there were 10 years ago, Briones said at the ninth UCCP Quadrennial General Assembly in Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental on Thursday.
She presented government figures showing that the country’s 20 poorest provinces come mostly from the Visayas and Mindanao, while the country’s richest provinces are in Luzon.
Briones noted that the underemployment rate had been going up. NSO data showed that in January 2010, underemployment rose to 19.7 percent from 18.2 percent in January 2009.
“When the government says that the economy is growing, you have to ask where the growth is coming from, who is benefiting from the growth,” she said.
Briones is the lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines, a nongovernment organization monitoring government programs aimed at meeting targets of the Millennium Development Goals.
Poor revenue collection
Briones also noted that deficit spending had increased from P12.4 billion in 2007 and P67.1 billion in 2008 to P298.5 billion in 2009.
The situation was aggravated by the government’s poor revenue collection, she said.
The figures for 2009 showed P115.9 billion in uncollected revenues from tax and non-tax sources.
Briones said the Philippines would have to spend P207.8 billion for recovery and reconstruction in the next three years.
“The challenge for the elected officials would be if they are willing to spend a big part of the budget for education, health and agriculture,” she said
Cut wastage
Briones called on the new administration to reduce the debt burden by improving revenue generation, plugging leakages in tax administration and cutting of wastage from corruption and frivolous spending of discretionary funds.
“This year, we are spending P5 billion to 10 billion to give money to the poor but that is not the solution; the solution is to give the poor people jobs. Relevant education and a healthy population are the key to addressing poverty,” Briones said.
By Christian V. Esguerra, Alex PalPhilippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: May 31, 2010
MANILA, Philippines—The next administration will have no one to blame but itself should the country’s economic growth sputter after growing 7.3 percent during the first quarter of the year, Malacañang said Sunday.
“The wind is at their back. The Arroyo administration has given them momentum. They shouldn’t waste this,” said Gary Olivar, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s deputy spokesperson.
Olivar said that if the economic growth slowed down—despite the momentum given to the next administration—it would be held accountable.
At the weekly Malacañang media forum on Radyo ng Bayan, he challenged presumptive president-elect Benigno Aquino III to focus on sustaining the growth the Palace credited to Ms Arroyo’s economic policies.
Aquino, along with other lawmakers and militant groups, downplayed the economic growth, saying it was but the result of the huge spending during the election campaign.
“If Senator Aquino thinks our economic growth only came from campaign spending, all I can say is this, ‘That’s a lot of tarpaulins, Senator,’” Olivar said sarcastically.
He said that so many campaign paraphernalia should have been produced to affect the manufacturing sector, which registered a 20-percent growth.
“We’d mentioned that campaign spending in the recent elections would have less effect than in the previous elections because ways of campaigning were now more modern,” Olivar said.
Officials to explain growth
He said details of the economic growth—particularly the supposedly minimal effect of campaign spending—would be made public on Wednesday in a Malacañang press conference.
Tapped to do the explaining were officials from the National Economic and Development Authority, National Statistics Office (NSO), and the National Statistical Coordination Board.
Olivar said Aquino should give Ms Arroyo, the senator’s economics professor at Ateneo de Manila University, some credit for the economic growth.
“These are the numbers,” he said. “The problem is he’s shooting from the hip again. He doesn’t set his target. He just shoots and shoots. I don’t think this (approach) is proper because he will now become the president of our country,” he said.
Olivar added: “He’s no longer a candidate. He’s now a president-in-waiting.”
He said Aquino should “appreciate” Ms Arroyo’s efforts, noting that “he will see in due course the burdens of the presidency.”
But, of course, we continue to wish him the best and we appeal to all to give him their full support,” he said.
No poverty reduction
Former National Treasurer Leonor Briones agreed that the positive predictions of economic growth for 2010 were premised on the holding of successful elections, which had been welcomed by international and local business communities.
The Philippine experience, however, shows that economic growth has not resulted in poverty reduction because there are more poor people now than there were 10 years ago, Briones said at the ninth UCCP Quadrennial General Assembly in Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental on Thursday.
She presented government figures showing that the country’s 20 poorest provinces come mostly from the Visayas and Mindanao, while the country’s richest provinces are in Luzon.
Briones noted that the underemployment rate had been going up. NSO data showed that in January 2010, underemployment rose to 19.7 percent from 18.2 percent in January 2009.
“When the government says that the economy is growing, you have to ask where the growth is coming from, who is benefiting from the growth,” she said.
Briones is the lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines, a nongovernment organization monitoring government programs aimed at meeting targets of the Millennium Development Goals.
Poor revenue collection
Briones also noted that deficit spending had increased from P12.4 billion in 2007 and P67.1 billion in 2008 to P298.5 billion in 2009.
The situation was aggravated by the government’s poor revenue collection, she said.
The figures for 2009 showed P115.9 billion in uncollected revenues from tax and non-tax sources.
Briones said the Philippines would have to spend P207.8 billion for recovery and reconstruction in the next three years.
“The challenge for the elected officials would be if they are willing to spend a big part of the budget for education, health and agriculture,” she said
Cut wastage
Briones called on the new administration to reduce the debt burden by improving revenue generation, plugging leakages in tax administration and cutting of wastage from corruption and frivolous spending of discretionary funds.
“This year, we are spending P5 billion to 10 billion to give money to the poor but that is not the solution; the solution is to give the poor people jobs. Relevant education and a healthy population are the key to addressing poverty,” Briones said.
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