NAGA CITY?Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo has urged local governments to be transparent by disclosing budgets and expenses in government websites.
?If local government units would not be pressured to do this, efforts to make them (local government units) more transparent and accountable will be unsuccessful,? Robredo said here on Thursday during the inauguration of the Naga City Coliseum.
The League of Municipalities of the Philippines, League of Cities of the Philippines, and League of Provinces of the Philippines had come up with joint resolutions supporting the Department of Interior and Local Government?s move to promote transparency in all levels of government, he said.
?LGUs will avoid this (disclosure policy) if they could, but this is what the people want. We will use this clamor as an instrument against noncompliance to this policy,? Robredo said, adding that full disclosure by all LGUs of annual budget, income, expenditures, contracts and loans would be beneficial to the public.
All LGUs are also ordered to comply fully with Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act that demands the posting of the annual procurement plan, invitation to bids and bid winners in ?conspicuous places within the buildings in the locality, the Internet and newspapers of general circulation.?
The DILG published on its official website its annual budget and those of the other agencies attached to it?the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, National Police Commission, Philippine Public Safety College and Local Government Academy.
Robredo said disclosing the DILG?s financial statements online was not only meant for transparency, but also a way to gather feedback from the people so they can suggest how they can spend government funds.
The posting of the summary of income and expenditures has been mandated by the Local Government Code of 1991 for long.
Robredo also said that along with the full disclosure policy, he would also start procurement reforms in the DILG.
He said one of the measures that he would implement is the standardization of all service firearms and equipment such as fire trucks issued to DILG-attached agencies. Juan Escandor Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon
