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Thursday, November 18, 2004
Iligan mayor okays good governance task force
By Bong S. Sarmiento
ILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte -- First-term Mayor Lawrence Cruz signed the executive order (EO) establishing Task Force on Good Governance.
Cruz described the EO as "the policy of the present city administration to insure the speedy, efficient and effective delivery of government services to the general public under a regime of clean, honest and transparent governance."
"This is a body that will investigate wrongdoing within the City Hall," Cruz added.
Composed of four members--three City Hall legal consultants and a representative from the City Council--Cruz vested the task force with powers to examine all official documents and records in any department or office in the City Government to clamp down irregularities.
As a legacy of his new administration, Cruz said it has become imperative to examine every sector in the City Government to determine the flaws so as to ferret out the truth and prevent the continuance of any wrongdoing.
Cruz, who defeated two-term mayor Franklin Quijano in the last May 10 polls, said he formed the task force not as a political tool to go after the allies of the latter but as a method to institutionalize reforms in the city hall.
He disclosed that the task force has already uncovered several alleged anomalies but declined to give specific names or cases, saying these are still being investigated.
When pointed to him that the task force is composed of people working for the city government, Cruz said they "will invite representatives from the civil society later."
Cruz's task force is strikingly similar to the locality's dormant City Coalition on Transparent and Accountable Governance (CCTAG), a project adopted by his predecessor and at least six other cities in Mindanao.
The CCTAG project aims to promote good governance and is being supported by the Asia Foundation, a non-government organization.
Councilor Orlando Maglinao, CCTAG chair, welcomed the task force formed separately by Cruz and vowed to support the city hall initiative.
Cruz, on the other hand, intends to link arms with CCTAG to further advance good governance practices in the locality.
Maglinao said the CCTAG, comprised of the local government unit, the business chamber and the civil society organization, ceased functioning to pave the way for the last elections and has not been resuscitated since then.
He added, however, he will call a meeting to activate the CCTAG "so as not to bring their pioneer efforts to naught."
"Possibly, we would like to link up with city hall's task force so we could pool our efforts together in promoting transparency and good governance," said Maglinao, who belongs to the opposition.
"Sayang din if the CCTAG would be totally disbanded because we have made some advancement in terms of promoting good governance," he added.
Sim Quina, CCTAG vice chair, pointed out the coalition was instrumental in the putting up of a one-stop shop business application and renewal center last year.
Called Boss, for Business One-Stop Shop, all agencies involved when opening a new business or renewing a business permit--like the treasurer's office, the Department of Trade and Industry, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Social Security System, the Bureau of Fire Protection--are gathered in one place to expedite the processing of documents.
"[With the Boss], the businessmen felt their needs are being addressed by the city government," Quina said, urging Cruz to continue such system.
Cruz, in response, said the present administration would not abandon the one-stop shop started by the previous government.
"In fact we will try to improve system by extending the length of time beyond 5 p.m. to allow our businessmen to process their documents longer," the mayor said.
Cruz described the one-stop shop renewal and application center as just one way to promote good governance.
Another way to encourage the promotion of good governance is to award recognition to outstanding employees, said Cruz, adding it would inspire the other employees to perform better to the benefit of the transacting public since they are getting better government service.
(November 18, 2004 issue)
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