Groups to keep their eyes on project funds

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas: Unity. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has engaged the Catholic Church and community leaders in monitoring the implementation of projects funded by the multibillion-peso Grassroots Participatory Budgeting Program (GPBP).

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle and representatives of the Liga ng mga Barangay (LNB) signed a memorandum of agreement at the Archbishop’s Palace in Intramuros, Manila, on Friday cementing their partnership dubbed “Ugnayan ng mga Barangay at Simbahan.”

The partnership will join the civil society sector in keeping an eye on local government units under the GPBP.

“This cooperation among the DILG, the church and the communities proves our unity in supporting the reforms initiated by the ‘tuwid na daan’ (straight path) for our bosses, the people,” Roxas said in a statement.

“This [project] was conceptualized to harness community participation in monitoring compliance with good governance and anticorruption standards in project implementation and the delivery of public services,” he said.

Roxas said the DILG will be tapping religious and faith-based groups to participate in the monitoring of the GPBP-funded projects.

Initially called “bottom-up budgeting,” the GPBP was introduced by Roxas’ predecessor, the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, to allow local government units to identify projects needed by their respective communities.

As part of the participative budgeting approach, the projects should be approved by people’s organizations and local civil society groups before the national government would release the funds.

For his part, Tagle said the program was timely as it would help ensure the collective action of the Church and the communities in ensuring that public funds were spent “for the needs of the people.”

Edmund Abesamis, LNB president, said the tripartite partnership was a way of strengthening the coordination between the Church and the communities in promoting the people’s participation in antipoverty programs.

Municipalities may choose poverty-alleviation projects worth P15 million, while cities will be allotted P50 million each.–With a report from Julie M. Aurelio