Tackling environmental woes a priority issue among LGUs
By Jesus F. Llanto
Newsbreak
Saturday, 25 April 2009
The need to protect the environment is not lost on local government units (LGUs), but lack of enough funds to implement programs and local laws are getting in the way of their green campaign.
Sharing their experiences at a forum Thursday, local chief executives said a number of LGUs have crafted local environment codes to monitor land conversion and extraction of natural resources and to address illegal fishing, illegal logging, and deforestation.
However, they have yet to fully enforce these laws because of financial constraints.
Masbate Gov. Elisa Olga Kho said that most LGUs already allocate a huge slice of their internal revenue allotment and local revenues on health services and infrastructure.
Kho told Newsbreak that illegal fishing is a concern in her province, but they do not have enough money to buy equipment and mobilize personnel to guard municipal waters against illegal commercial fishers.
Masbate’s local environment code was approved in 2000 and it has provisions that mandate the creation of the Provincial Office on Environment and Natural Resources Management and the delineation of the municipal water boundaries.
Use of web maximized to fight human trafficking
Written by Jesus F. Llanto
Friday, 06 March 2009
The fight against human trafficking is now using a medium that has been used by traffickers themselves to lure some of its victims.
A website dedicated to special reports on human trafficking and provides a venue on information-sharing among anti-trafficking advocates was relaunched Thursday in Makati City.
The website, www.humantraffickinginasia.net, which was first created in 2007 by Newsbreak, contains investigative stories on the unexplored areas of human trafficking. It was a project in partnership with The Asia Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The website has been re-launched and now features a blog where anti-trafficking advocates can share information and possible solutions to the problem. It receives funding support from The Asia Foundation and the US Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
“Anti-trafficking advocates need to be technology-savvy and creative in utilizing information, as traffickers are not only one step ahead of anti-trafficking groups, but also have many resources at their disposal,” said Maribel Buenaobra, managing program officer of the anti-trafficking project of the foundation.
Voters don’t like pre-campaigning: study
Written by Jesus F. Llanto
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Here’s a reminder to politicians aspiring for national positions in the 2010 elections: increased exposure on television and other forms of media may not make them desirable to voters.
A study presented on Saturday by University of the Philippines students on perceptions of media presence of possible presidential and vice presidential candidates showed that high visibility in the media of personalities aspiring for the top two positions for the 2010 elections does not equate to desirability of potential candidates.
The study, IMPRESS10N: Importance of Media Presence on the Bid for the 2010 National Elections, by students of the University of the Philippines Communication Research Department, showed that increasing exposure of potential candidates through the media may not improve their desirability since most voters draw a connection between media visibility and pre-campaigning.
“In the last couple of months, certain public officials have appeared in daily newscasts and newspaper front pages more than they used to, while some have become endorsers of commercial products or spokesperson in public service advertisements. Interestingly, this increased appearance of politicians in the media becomes even more suspicious as we draw closer to the 2010 national elections,” the study noted.
Eighty-three percent of the respondents, the study said, believed that “name recall, publicity, popularity and media mileage, or simply put, pre-campaigning was the motivation behind the potential candidates’ media presence,” the study said. Meanwhile, only 16 percent believed that their presence in the media was work-related.
Smoking ban in most LGUs unsuccessful
By Jesus F. Llanto
Researcher, Newsbreak
January 28, 2009
Authorities need to intensify monitoring, make more apprehensions, impose bigger fines
In the Philippines, the national government spends P276 billion every year for citizens’ treatment of four major diseases related to smoking, according to a study on poverty and tobacco use released in 2006.
If that amount were used instead to implement anti-smoking ordinances by local government units (LGUs), each of the 1,631 cities and municipalities across the country would have had P169.22 million a year.
Yet, based on figures that some cities provided Newsbreak, LGUs that have a smoking ban only spend from P300,000 to P2 million yearly to sustain their campaign. In fact, there are only at least 340 LGUs that have this campaign.
No wonder, the anti-smoking drive in the country has barely made strides.
According to representatives of seven cities, as well as health experts, interviewed by Newsbreak, LGUs need to intensify their monitoring of people and public places, be strict when apprehending violators, and impose bigger fines if their smoking bans are to succeed.
As elections near, LGUs getting ‘bigger’
By Jesus F. Llanto
Researcher, Newsbreak
February 19, 2009
A year into the election season, a number of local government units (LGUs) across the country are expanding—creating new barangays, seeking independence from mother units, and lobbying for new congressional districts. These expansions, in turn, will pave the way for new local positions that politicians may seek.
Recently released data from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) showed that 13 new barangays were created, and a city was converted into a highly-urbanized city in the last quarter of 2008.
At the House of Representatives, there are bills seeking the creation of 18 new congressional districts in 15 provinces and cities. There are also bills seeking the creation of 4 more provinces, 7 municipalities, and 24 barangays.
Most, if not all, of these proposals were encouraged by the recently released 2007 census. Localities naturally saw increased populations, thus many of them finally met the minimum population requirement for the creation or expansion of political units.
Timeline: The road to the World Bank controversy
Research by Jesus Llanto (Newsbreak)
February 2000—The World Bank approves the $150-million National Roads Improvement and Management Program-1, which is to be implemented from February 2000-March 2007.
2003—Signs of procurement problems are identified in the NRIMP-1 by the World Bank.
Between 2003 and 2006—The World Bank rejects two large contracts in three rounds of bidding after it discovers “strong signs of collusion and excessive pricing” among several construction firms. It reports this observation to the Integrity Vice President (INT) that conducts an investigation on the issue.
November 2007—The World Bank’s Integrity Vice President (INT) closes its investigation and a referral report, which contains summary of the INT’s findings, is issued. Findings of the investigation show “evidence of a major cartel involving local and international companies bidding on the NRIMP-1 contracts.”
November 16, 2007—The Department of Finance, according to Secretary Margarito Teves, receives the copy of the referral report of the World Bank.
November 19, 2007—The Department of Finance sends the World Bank report to the Office of the Ombudsman.
May 2008—Notice of sanctions proceedings are received by the companies involved in the World Bank probe.
May 13, 2008—The second phase of the NRIMP is approved by the WB Board of Directors. The new project contains a more comprehensive set of anti-corruption measures.
Best LGU practices cited, from reducing disaster risk to collecting more revenues
By Jesus F. Llanto
Researcher, Newsbreak
February 11, 1009
A scorecard to measure performance and improve governance in the city. A barangay government code that has resulted in more revenues and better peace and order situation. A market organized by the provincial government but run by farmers. A disaster risk management and risk reduction program of a calamity-prone province.
These are programs of four local government units (LGUs) that were recently given special citation by the Galing Pook Awards—which recognizes best practices of LGUs—for their programs that provide incentives at the local level to improve performance and governance.
The local governments that received the Special Citation on Local Capacity Incentive Mechanism for Good Governance are: Barangay Sanito in Ipil Zamboanga Sibugay, San Fernando City in Pampanga, and the provinces of Negros Oriental and Albay.
Eddie Dorotan, executive director of the Galing Pook Awards told abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak that the citation highlights efforts of the local government to come up with innovative programs that give incentives to further improve the delivery of basic services.
According to the souvenir program of the Galing Pook Awards, the recipients of the special citation proved that LGUs have “taken up the challenge of decentralization” brought by the enactment of the Local Government Code and have “continually innovated to make delivery of services more efficient.”
“Local officials often have insufficient preparation, capacities and in some cases, very limited resources, to respond to the new demands and challenges…Some LGUs have found creative ways to better serve their constituents, in part by looking to themselves, their communities and their peers for new ideas and approaches,” the souvenir program reads.
