Friday, October 05, 2007 NGO coalition urges gov’t transparency
A NON-government group’s official is pushing for a coalition to promote accountability and transparency in government and to support individuals in the fight against corruption.
Bernie Villorente, executive director of Datingbayan Foundation Inc., said that until a coalition can fuse all anti-graft efforts from various non-government groups, individuals and the business sector, victory will come piecemeal.
“We can only be effective if we can bundle our ideas and expertise,” he said.
Villorente and the representatives of other anti-graft groups are expected to meet with Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol next week to discuss certain anti-graft concerns. The formation of a coalition will also be taken up.
The call for a coalition followed the earlier lament of businessman Crisologo Saavedra.
The businessman who spilled the beans on the allegedly overpriced decorative lampposts and surveillance cameras the government bought for use during the Asean Summit, and who later raised questions regarding the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), admitted feeling alone in the fight.
He pointed out how 10 prominent Cebuano businessmen rushed to the aid of Efrain Pelaez Jr. in the graft case the business leader filed against Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza, but none came when cases intended to silence him (Saavedra) were filed.
Pelaez, the president of the Mactan Island Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has accused the mayor of facilitating the allegedly overpriced purchase of some P23 million in personal computers that the City Government later gave to its public schools.
He said the 470 computers were priced at some P50,000 each, but these could have been bought at half the price.
Pelaez received heat from Lapu-Lapu City Hall for the complaint and, subsequently, became the target of a Bureau of Internal Revenue investigation.
This was when the businessmen and Dilaab made their show of support. (KNR)
