NEW YORK — President Benigno S. C. Aquino III pledged to implement by early next year an “action plan for government accountability” which ensures transparency in public institutions.
Speaking at the launch of the Open Government Partnership, Mr. Aquino said his government was “serious” about a systemic transformation “from one that operates through secrecy, impunity, and collusion” into a government that embodies transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement.”
He added that the action plan would be implemented starting January 2012.
Malacañang did not go into specifics of what the plan would contain, but Mr. Aquino said it was developed through consultations with civil society organizations as well as business groups.
He maintained that the culture of corruption would take time to change and that a campaign of this nature continued to be a “work in progress.”
Before its implementation next year, the plan will have gone through “even deeper consultations” with many sectors, including the media and the public at large, Mr. Aquino said.
In a separate forum held at the Google office, Mr. Aquino argued that while a government and a people who are open with each other can work toward “national solidarity,” openness can be a two-way street and subject to abuse.
“Anyone with access to an Internet connection can reach millions of people and dispense pearls of wisdom or, perversely, misinform and mislead in pursuit of a selfish agenda,” he said.
Government, he maintained, must open itself to those “pearls of wisdom.”
Citing instances of transparency under his administration, Mr. Aquino said citizens can now report cases of corruption through the Pera ng Bayan or People’s Money program. This feedback mechanism, he said, has yielded 127 cases since it was launched in November.
Another initiative is taking the Official Gazette online, making it possible for all legislation and executive orders to be accessible to the public.
In same manner, bids for government contracts are also available on the Web.
Mr. Aquino echoed the wisdom of Dr. Jose Rizal back in the 19th century who had warned of the consequences of government being “blind and deaf to the grievances of the people.”
“Demoralization cannot be corrected by sealing the lips of accusers but by the government inquiring into the cause, persecuting the crime, and letting fall who may fall,” he said quoting Rizal. Such tyranny, said the president, ignited the Philippine Revolution against Spain.
Mr. Aquino called for a “continuing conversation” between government and its citizens.
“Openness inspires trust, which is the foundation of a genuine partnership,” he said. “A positive, powerful connection between individual leaders and citizens, fosters the reintegration of government with society as a whole.”
Opacity, Mr. Aquino warned, “breeds both a temptation among those in power to engage in crimes, and popular mistrust of government.”
He said governments that do the right thing should have no problem keeping their citizens informed and engaged.
==============================================================================
By: Cristina DC Pastor
Source: Business World, Sept. 21, 2011
To view the original article, click here.
Comment here