The Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP) emphasized the critical roles and capacities that civil society organization (CSO) plays in the implementation of fiscal decentralization.
“Today as we talk among ourselves, we learn that we can work on equal footing with our government allies in the local government,” PH-OGP Non-Government Non-Steering Committee co-chairperson Andrea Maria Patricia Sarenas said during the 3rd session of the Fiscal Transparency Webinar Series for the Non-Government Sector entitled, “Ambag Natin: Partisipasyon ng CSOs sa Proseso at Implementasyon ng Debolusyon sa 2022” on November 19.
Serenas welcomed almost 300 representatives from government and non-government stakeholders across the country, including CSOs, people’s organizations, academic institutions, and public sector unions.
Dr. Divina Luz J. Lopez, the former National Coordinator of the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA), discussed the role of CSOs in local government units (LGUs), particularly during the devolution process.
She expanded on the CSO elements and provided key takeaways for more successful citizen involvement.
Mayor Honey Lumayag-Matti of Polomolok, South Cotabato, highlighted their experience with current decentralization and devolution procedures, as well as steps to improve public service delivery through co-governance.
She discussed how CSOs are striving to improve public service in their municipality and underlined the necessity of collaboration across all sectors in the country, particularly in LGUs.
“Mas marami po tayong nagtutulung-tulungan, mas marami pong pwedeng gawin (The more people who work together, the more work is achieved). Collaborate and work together. Consider all views and situations of all parties and decide based on the common good. You have to learn to trust one another also. Through these partnerships, masisigurado po natin na pwede tayong ma-evolve (we can make sure that we could evolve) into better individuals and better public servants,” Matti said.
Officials from the Committee on Devolution, Director John Aries S. Macaspac of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and Director Anna Liza F. Bonagua of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) joined an open forum.
Bonagua tackled the effectiveness and importance of the collaboration between the government and non-government sectors throughout the devolution transition period and beyond.
“More than ever, mas kailangan ngayon ng (much needed this time are the) participation of all sectors by LGUs, even civil societies, development partners, academic institutions. They need all the help they can master in order to support this new phase of devolution to ensure that this will be a success. Yung transition is really a challenge for our LGUS so kailangan nila ng lahat ng suporta (so they need all kinds of support), much more from our civil society organizations,” Bonagua said.
Source: Philippines News Agency