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Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Cabaero: Private sector participation
By Nini B. Cabaero
Beyond 30
Questions over the assignment of P12 million of Rep. Clavel Martinez’s pork barrel funds to non-government organizations raise anew the need to review procedures on private sector partnership with government.
There is nothing wrong with the wisdom behind the Local Government Code provision recognizing the role non-government and people’s organizations play in building the nation.
One of the Code’s basic principles states, “local government units shall promote the establishment and operation of people’s and non-governmental organizations to become active partners in the pursuit of local autonomy.”
The Code allows local government units to enter into joint ventures or cooperative arrangements with private organizations to engage in the delivery of certain basic services, capability-building and livelihood projects, and to develop local enterprises.
The problem lies in the choice of the organization, the hidden interests of some politicians in picking the group and the use and recording of the funds. This requires a review of the system.
Government auditors have asked the Northern Cebu Development Center Inc. to liquidate funds amounting to P12 million that organizations under the Center got from Martinez’s pork barrel.
Published reports said Martinez was one of the organization’s incorporators and was a member of the board of trustees.
Bogo Mayor Celestino “Tining” Martinez III explained that his mother was part of the group only when it was formed in 1995. After the election of a new set of officers, she no longer held a post in the organization.
He said the Northern Cebu Development Center Inc. was accredited by the Municipal Government and has a seat in the Municipal Development Council. The Center, he added, would come up soon with a financial report on the use of the money.
Government auditors reported that the money was released without proper documentation as to its use and its beneficiaries.
There is need for a full accounting of the fund because, aside from it being the people’s money, there was one disclaimer by a supposed beneficiary.
One cooperative complained that it got only P60,000, not P1 million, as a loan from the Center, and this money was already paid back with interest.
This incident should set off the alarm over the way government units are tapping private organizations for partnership.
The principle behind involving citizens in governance is still valid. The way this partnership is being implemented is what requires a review.
If nothing is done to correct the system, this government-private sector partnership would then be a mockery of what is enshrined in the Local Government Code.
(ninicab@sunstar.com.ph)
(September 27, 2005 issue)
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