First of three parts of PCIJs . Two more to come. So I read it this morning with a fresh pair of eyes and an open mind. And here are my initial thoughts after my reading: (1) if your own Cabinet members or high officials didnt know what the hell is this DAP - your management is surely in a bad state. (2) the ways the DAP fund was administered as described here seems to confirm my own personal suspicion of a gross lack of due diligence and thus could easily be abused; (3) lack of accountabililty - the Budget Secretary could not even quote his figures correctly off top of his head- I expect him to memorise these like his mantra. I have this firm belief that if your figures are muddled - its suspect. (4) Its a recipe that fosters patronage politics and not so distant - economic or financial dictatorship - as what PNOYs critics have already labelled it. On the good side - yes - I definitely support the need for a responsible, accessible budgetting process but this can only work with clear, transparent criteria and driven by a development agenda that serve not only as stimuli for economic progress but also alleviates poverty ., How the latter were translated in those projects remains unclear. For instance, I need to see which regions, which economic programs benefitted and whether there was parity in the allocation of resources - that cut across all political lines and not just favoring the political allies of the President and most of all - what were the results, the outcomes . Did the govt consider investing on an independent impact study of the DAP-funded projects? I t should have - given the enormous amount of peoples money allocated to this. We deserve no less. And Ill say it again - good intentions should not compromise high standards of accountability - political and financial - these are the pillars of good governance. Do we really need to fight over the Supreme Court s decision on the unconstitionality of the DAP administration ? Isnt it plain and simple common sense? Waiting for the rest of PCIJs report. Well done PCIJ!
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 05:11:43 +0000
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