|
Monday, February 09, 2004
Editorial: Crash course in governance
WEAKNESSES in government’s relations with nongovernment organizations (NGOs) do not only end in quasi NGOs squandering public funds.
In a paradoxical reversal, legitimate, accredited NGOs have difficulty getting out the funds appropriated to them by the Cebu City Government.
According to Tessie Fernandez, executive director of Lihok Pilipina, many of the NGOs pledged P19.6 million from the City’s local development fund in 2003 have yet to get their share due to the circuitous maze of City Hall’s procedures and the NGOs’ lack of familiarity with this.
Fernandez is the chairperson of the 56 NGOs sitting in the Local Development Council.
Disservice
The ongoing investigation of the Perdido Lex Foundation Inc., which allegedly siphoned over P4 million from the Provincial Government, has focused on shortcuts taken in screening NGO partners.
But the public is not only shortchanged when taxes finance ghost projects and phantom development. It is of equal disservice when funds are not released on time to carry out the development for which they were intended.
According to Fernandez, only three NGOs have received the first tranche, representing 30 percent of their grants. In this first batch, 12 NGOs submitted proposals for the P9.6 million allocated in the annual investment plan of 2003. (Fernandez said she has to check the status of proposals filed for the P10 million allocated in 2002.)
While NGOs are “appreciative that the Cebu City Government has opened up to NGOs,” Fernandez said that there is “lot of confusion” why the funds have stalled. NGOs like Lihok Pilipina and the Center for Participatory Governance (CPaG) had already completed their requirements last year. This included a detailed work and financial plan, the memorandum of agreement (MOA) entered by City Hall and the NGO, the proposal revised according to City Hall’s recommendations, their accreditation papers, and a copy of the City Council resolution.
Fernandez debunked the failure of some NGOs to liquidate earlier cash advances as a reason for the delayed releases. Liquidation of previous grants or, in lieu of this, a certification of ongoing project is a precondition to accreditation, she contended.
Despite these fiscal delays, Fernandez said NGOs have gone on implementing projects because of their commitment to their clientele. But the delays meant that they had to scale down targets, as they were limited to their own resources.
Hard lessons
With many NGOs disheartened by the delays, only a few have submitted proposals for the 2004 allocation of P10 million, approved by the City Council last December.
Those who have proposed are “adamant” that their group sits down with the City administration to iron out the kinks in the process. Fernandez said that the past year has taught NGOs some hard and fast rules about working with government. They now follow the formats for the proposal and the MOA, as well as learned to make specific work and financial plans and submit documents in the required three copies.
However, Fernandez pointed out that City Hall should brief NGOs about all requirements from the start. It was only last week that the office of City Planning and Development coordinator Nigel Paul Villarete gave NGOs notices listing their deficiencies. While lauding this step, Fernandez said it would have been more useful if Villarete had initiated this earlier.
Alvin Dizon, CPaG executive director, observed that the NGOs’ flexibility is called for in dealing with the government’s pace.
Aside from discussing with City Hall how the process can be improved, Dizon advocated that NGOs learn from the experts: City Hall itself. Saying that every office in City Hall has a person exclusively designated to “follow up” all its requests—“pushing” the documents so these crawl from desk to desk, department to department—Dizon reflected that even NGOs may have to adopt this venerable City Hall “tradition.”
Fernandez said that designating a full-time person to follow up papers stresses further NGOs’ lean staff. But she, too, is resigned that, aside from drastic changes in the fiscal process, a “follow-uper” may be NGOs’ best bet, for now, to get the funds out and finally working for development.
(February 9, 2004 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
