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Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Lex case hurting NGOs
By Karen M. Flores
OFFICERS of some nongovernment organizations yesterday expressed regret that the “bad eggs in the basket” should ruin it for the rest of them in the private sec-tor’s partnership with the Cebu Provincial Government.
While they understand that Capitol may now be more wary of NGOs, even the accredited ones, the officers agreed in separate interviews that this seems “unfair” to those who have so far performed well.
The Provincial Board (PB) approved two separate resolutions last Monday asking Gov. Pablo Garcia to order the suspension of the release of any financial assistance to NGOs, and for its accreditation committee to “hold in abeyance” the endorsement of any application for a group to be accredited.
“Dili unta maayo nga ratsada kay it’s discriminating against those who are doing good,” said Alvin Dizon of the Center for Participatory Governance (Cpag).
The more notable of the 289 NGOs that the PB accredited since 1992: Citizens Involvement and Maturation for People’s Empowerment and Liberation (Cimpel), Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (Eruf), Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi), Plan International, Cpag, Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water, and Cebu Newspaper Workers Foundation (Cenewof).
Lawyer Nina Valenzona, chairman of Kaabag-Sugbo (a network of 27 NGOs in Cebu) and executive director of the Share a Child Movement Inc., said the “unfair” predicament they are now in should be corrected soon by reforms in the system of accreditation.
In a phone interview, she said the process of accreditation should be improved so that it involves more stringent screening measures.
It should not be enough for a group to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as many times, previous experience counts a lot.
Vida Arcamo, secretary general of Gabriela-Cebu, related that it did not take them long to apply for accreditation last year. They were not even required to appear personally before the board or the accreditation committee.
But Vice Gov. John Gregory Osmeña thinks otherwise.
He believes being able to submit all the requirements is enough for an NGO to be accredited.
The Provincial Government should be tougher, however, when scrutinizing the memorandum of agreement between the NGO and the Capitol that is required before financial aid can be released.
Osmeña pointed out during the session last Monday that this is “far more sensible” because of the 289 NGOs that have been accredited in the last 12 years, only 29 actually received money from the province.
(February 11, 2004 issue)
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