KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Regional officials broke a tradition by enlisting, for the first time ever, local newspapers, radio and television networks to disseminate the details and fiscal allocation per project of a P1 billion "development package" for five southern provinces to encourage public awareness and vigilance in ensuring an honest spending of the grant, something never done before.

"This transparency is so unusual, an indication of sincerity. It's nice that they have enlisted the support of the media in helping educate the public on the intricacies of the projects to be implemented this year out of this huge infrastructure grant," said Erwin Cabilbigan, reporter of station dxMY in Cotabato City.

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All of the more than a hundred municipal mayors and five provincial governors in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) each received a share from the infrastructure subsidy last week through special agreements between the local government units and the office of Armm Governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan.

The agreement stipulates that any mishandling of the projects by local government units would mean a takeover by the Armm's public works department, and the prosecution of recipient-local executives.

"We have provided media outfits in the Armm and surrounding regions the list of the projects to be implemented by the mayors and governors for dissemination to the public. This is setting a good tradition, a tradition of transparency as espoused jointly by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and our regional governor," said lawyer Oscar Sampulna, Armm's executive secretary.

Armm officials activated last Wednesday a "committee against corruption," composed of lawyers, accountants and engineers, to monitor the implementation of Armm's P1 billion 2009 infrastructure subsidy, the biggest ever since the grant of autonomy in 1990.

Mayors and provincial governors in the region received the shares of their respective local government units from the subsidy through separate agreements with the Armm's executive department stipulating that projects funded out of the grant would be taken over by the regional public works department if they fail to implement them religiously.

Sampulna said the special anti-graft group, dubbed Internal Affairs and Complaints Committee (IACC), will enforce anti-corruption measures among public officials in the autonomous region and the regional government's organic personnel.