UP Forum March-April 2011

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

FORUM VOLUME 12 NUMBER 2

MARCH - APRIL 2011

Building UP’s Capacity for Transparency

By Maragtas S.V. Amante

T

he University of the Philippines (UP) is both a national asset and a commitment to the Philippine future. UP President Alfredo Pascual’s vision is to enable “a great university to be a model for good governance for a country it serves.”1 UP officials are now involved in various efforts to build transparent university governance. In theory, motivation and productivity at the workplace should increase with transparent governance. But how can the university’s constituencies achieve this goal?

It is neither fair nor realistic to expect results to come overnight. It is important to first identify the challenges that must be overcome, and to strengthen

the organizational infrastructure needed to showcase UP as a working model, in order to transform and strengthen the university campuses into units of transparency and good governance. Stronger partnerships with the organized sectors—faculty and staff unions, student organizations and the alumni— will be critical elements in this effort.

While I was writing this article, images of Japan’s March 11 disaster from the magnitude 8.9 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear radiation were repeatedly airing in the news media. These images of destruction in a matter of minutes raise profound questions on how efficient and rich Japan, with its

modern infrastructure of transparency and good governance, could be destroyed by natural forces in a matter of minutes. Indeed, geology and environmental factors should now be considered in creating and using scientific knowledge (such as nuclear reactors), physical infrastructure and technology.

Building capacity for transparent, good governance UP is not only a microcosm of Philippine society.

It is also in the cusp of the country’s intellectual life in the sciences, the humanities and the professions.

Transparency and good governance with academic BUILDING UP'S CAPACITY, p. 2

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FORUM March-April 2011

BUILDING UP'S CAPACITY, from p. 1 excellence should come with the package, so to speak.

Any scientific or modern mind cannot ignore the fact that UP’s main inputs still come from the pluses and minuses of the structures of Philippine society, economy and culture. These too are all parts of the package, with their potentials as well as risks.

Some, however, still believe that in order to be a great scientist or a celebrated artist, democratic governance in the academe is an obstacle, constraint or threat. And yet good governance is inherently democratic and consultative: collegiality in the academe is after all an established norm. Indeed, aside from brains, there could be more significant enabling factors which determine research output— availability of research laboratories and facilities, working environment, incentive systems and supportive peers, among others.

Many observers have commented on the “Philippine paradox” which could be extended into a corollary, i.e., the “UP paradox.” Why is UP—which is supposedly at the apex of the country’s intellectual resource and located in a very dynamic area called East Asia—lagging behind its academic peers in the region? Could UP’s corps of scientists and professionals do more to address economic dependency, agricultural and industrial stagnation, low productivity, low savings, poverty, unemployment, perennial debt and fiscal problems and outdated technology, among others?

Aside from the perennial university problems— its old physical infrastructure, low pay among its constituents, bad working conditions, bureaucratic inertia among academic leaders and university officials, infighting and turf building and simple laziness—part of the answer may be weaknesses in transparency and governance, which tend to perpetuate the power of special interests and traditional factions within the university.

At various levels of UP, accumulated red tape, lack of skills in negotiating governance, among others, may have compounded opacity and constrained the creativity and ability of the faculty, staff and students to deliver the best results.

Transparent, good governance should be able to break down these walls with the development of a capacity for good governance and an enabling environment for creativity and innovation through better pay, state-of-the-art infrastructure, productive working conditions and sustained funding.

Certainly, there is a lot of room to improve governance within the constraints of the existing human, financial and other administrative resources of the university. Improvements in systems and processes to eliminate waste of time and effort are necessary. At the same time, part of the strategy should be to discard accumulated baggage in the form of impractical goals, useless activities and excessively “bright” projects and programs given the limited time and resources to sustain them. UP officials at all levels should simply operate within their means, and discard any ambitious proposal which could be a source of frustration, burn-out and stress. The leaders of various academic units should simply focus on the core functions and services that can be achieved within the budget. The rationalization and realignment of units and programs is in order.

Part of the strategy to promote efficient administrative services in UP is to promote greater

integration, and interface among units involved at the college, campus and system levels. This is especially true of campus infrastructure and utilities. Self-directed teams and task forces across academic units should work towards more effective and efficient services.

Administrators, faculty and staff in all UP units should consult each other, agree on a performance framework and capacity-building program, and support each other in achieving various tasks, projects and activities with clear goals and results.

Strengthening partnerships with organized sectors President Pascual has established a norm for university officials at all levels: “When contemplating policy changes with wide and far-reaching effects, the UP leadership should go through a process of consultation to explain proposed changes thoroughly and obtain feedback. This process may stretch out decision-making, but will likely hasten implementation. In the management of funds and other resources entrusted to the university, responsible stewardship and ethical conduct should additionally characterize good governance.”2 These ideas to drive change in UP could go beyond the usual Theory X, which justifies management control of workers who supposedly dislike work; Theory Y which, in contrast, asserts that work is natural and can be a source of satisfaction when aimed at a higher order of human psychological needs such as self-esteem, self-actualization or empowerment; and Theory Z which focuses on job loyalty and security to promote stable employment, high productivity and high employee morale and satisfaction.

The new UP leadership is therefore fully committed to introduce innovation, more openness and transparency in all its operations, activities and decision-making processes. UP has a long history of struggle for open and transparent governance through the sectoral representatives from the faculty, staff, students and alumni in the Board of Regents (BOR), the highest policy-making body of the university.

The All-UP Workers Union (AUPWU) was organized in 1988 and won the mandated certification election as the exclusive representative of rankand-file employees in 1996. The AUPWU won by a significant majority over the Organization of

Non-Academic Personnel of the University of the Philippines (ONAPUP) in that election, which is done every five years, with the next one due in 2015.

The All-UP Academic Employees Union (AUPAEU) was organized in 1992 as an offshoot of the 1988 Supreme Court decision which declared that the appropriate academic bargaining unit for the faculty must be distinct from the employees.

Inclusion of a student representative in the BOR started in the 1970s while that of the alumni and faculty started in the 1980s. The staff regent, however, was appointed only in 2008 with the new UP Charter (Republic Act No. 9500). A more comprehensive review of the history, process and results of sector representation in UP’s governance should guide current and future university leaders in improving their performance, follow-up and delivery.

Through a long, legal certification process, the AUPAEU won the right to represent about 3,600 faculty members at UP, as well as about 1,400 research and professional staff (REPS). A collective negotiation agreement (CNA) between UP and the AUPAEU was negotiated and completed in 2008 and is now being implemented. The agreement covers the recognition of the union as a representative of the rank-and-file academic employees, namely the professors, non-teaching staff such as the researchers, librarians, trainers, counselors, nurses, doctors and other professionals. The agreement needs implementation with respect to processing of disputes, as well as non-monetary benefits like housing and funerals.

The challenge now is to build more capacity and strengthen the partnerships between UP officials and the leaders of the organized UP sectors to produce better results in the various campuses in terms of research output and scientific innovation to help the nation, particularly through the regions where these UP campuses exist.

UP has a loyal but aging group of employees.

There are observations that some units are overstaffed, while others are said to be under-staffed.

Due to the government’s attrition policy, hiring and recruitment were frozen for many vacancies except when highly justified, which is very rare. The age and work experience profile of UP personnel looks like a wall, ready to tumble due to attrition (i.e., early retirement, health reasons).

The UP BOR and governance

UP Vice-President for Administration Maragtas S.V. Amante

Many UP officials, leaders and employees are trained in traditional managerialism, through experience, classroom subjects and projects, and training courses in business management.

Managerialism is a product of the industrial revolution and the factory system in Europe in the 1800s. The focus is on efficiency and productivity, using the ideas of Robert Owen (division of labor), Frederick Taylor (scientific management), Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (time and motion studies for work efficiency) and Henry Fayol (unity of command or control, planning, leading and organizing), among others.

Modern influences on management include the systems theory, the Gannt chart for work scheduling, PERT/CPM, decision science, Peter Drucker’s organization science, Deming’s TQM, Michael Porter’s competitive advantage and Peter Senge’s learning organization. In the past, university officials used to lead their units with little or no interference BUILDING UP'S CAPACITY, p. 3

FORUM March-April 2011 3 BUILDING UP'S CAPACITY, from p. 2 in decision-making from what is now known as “stakeholders”—other officials, faculty, employees, students, alumni and the community. Today, however, collegiality has become the norm. The Philippine Constitution and other laws provide for “participation in decision-making.” Sector organizations including faculty and employee unions, as well as student and alumni organizations elect or nominate their representatives in various university or campus committees.

In the new UP Charter (Republic Act No. 9500), the BOR is the highest authority in the university, with a long list of 21 powers, among them defining the thrusts of the UP; electing the university president; approving graduation of students; granting honors; drawing up a job and compensation plan; disciplining students, faculty and staff; and authorizing contracts for construction and maintenance. The regents are the highest authority in policy, and also the employer, as a body. The power of appointment is delegated to the university president, chancellors and other officials.

The new charter mandates sector representation, through elections, of the faculty regent, student regent and staff regent. There is also an alumni regent and other regents appointed by the President of the Philippines. The chairs of the Senate and House Committees on Education also serve as regents.

In the traditional framework of employment, employer and employee interests are distinct, negotiated, and agreed upon formally in a document called an “individual employment contract” and supplemented by a “collective agreement” with the organized faculty and employees. Lack of capacity; dearth of resources to honor and implement the contract; and failure to communicate, calibrate and negotiate intentions are at the core of many disputes and conflicts among academic leaders, faculty and employees.

Among revolutionary socialists, however, the interests of labor and capital are irreconcilable and require the dictatorship of the proletariat. Sydney and Beatrice Webb in the UK in the 1890s introduced unions and collective bargaining as an alternative to the revolutionary option prevailing in Europe at that time.3 Collective bargaining and negotiations became important tools to mediate industrial conflict.

Aspiring to be a member of the governing board of an enterprise is a dream for many stakeholders, including managers, employees and union leaders.

Such aspirations serve as one of the antidotes to what Karl Marx explained as the “alienation of labor,” which gave rise to Luddites (people who fear the take-over of machines over people), acts of sabotage, low productivity and lack of motivation at the workplace.

The UP Charter of 2008 maintained its essential character “as a national university, a public and secular institution of higher learning, and a community of scholars dedicated to the search for truth and knowledge as well as the development of future leaders” (Section 3, RA 9500). Yet, the BOR could now exercise powers as a corporation, as a stateowned enterprise, to effectively manage its various assets such as land grants, fund endowments, donations, intellectual property and trust funds (Section 13 [r], and Section 24 on the management and creation of an independent trust).

In the private sector, the interests of both labor and capital are well-defined and could either converge or diverge in the division of the surplus or profits. In the public sector, the most important stakeholder is the “customers”—the citizens of the nation, whom the government must serve with quality services, including transparent governance. While the profit motive is put aside, there is mutual interest to maintain sound financial management, especially in eliminating wasteful and profligate spending. In government agencies, state-owned enterprises and state universities and colleges, the government is the employer.

In UP, the real powers of employment— appointment, promotion, discipline, dismissal, retirement—are with the university president and other officials, but who are overseen by the BOR.

Workplace issues on pay, promotions, allowances, benefits, work assignments, work hours, health and safety, benefits and privileges are the main content of industrial relations. The promotion of sound employment relations, especially at the workplace level, is a key competence for academic, administrative officials, as well as union leaders.

Studies in employment relations and the workplace have advanced far enough to show that governance is related to what Abraham Maslow refers to as “self actualization” in the hierarchy of needs; and Herzberg’s motivation and hygiene factors at the workplace.

Governance in the workplace at various levels has influence over organizational design and the delivery of a person’s job tasks (i.e., his or her duties and responsibilities). Job empowerment and enrichment are established concepts in relation to stress, safety and security at the workplace. Adoption of best practices in industrial relations should provide the enabling environment for employee autonomy in doing tasks, increasing the level of skills and competencies and to adapt to new processes and technology.

Through transparent governance, UP officials and sector leaders should be able to gain from mutually agreed upon organizational changes, to target higher levels of performance to create a “great university in the service of the people.” The convergence of interests include breakthroughs in scientific research; pattern-setting technology; innovation in the social sciences and humanities; and highly acclaimed performances in the arts. Demands for higher levels of academic performance will create greater stress and burn-outs, and measures to promote and manage well-being should be in place.

Global trends in governance Industrial democracy is an arrangement which involves workers making decisions, sharing

responsibility and authority in the workplace. The practice is well-developed in Germany, through “codetermination” (Mitbestimmung).

Mitbestimmung 4 In contrast, private Mitbestimmung). enterprises are owned and managed by their investors (“capitalists”). On the other hand, state-owned enterprises are invested by people’s money through government appropriations and managers are elected by government representatives in the board.

UP has developed its own form of representative industrial democracy, with “participation in decisionmaking” as mandated by Article 13, Section 3 of the Philippine Constitution, through such bodies as university councils, committees and consultative bodies to facilitate communication among management, unions and staff.

There is a large body of published research in many international journals on work, employment relations, labor studies and human resource management, as well as business which shows that industrial democracy enables employee motivation, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and thereby improve performance and productivity.

Indicators include feedback from customers on quality service, high performance teams of employees with greater engagement and a balance in work and family, community and social life. Researches also cite the following: less work-related conflicts, both individual and collective disputes due to better communication flow and sharing of information; co-ownership in decision-making which results in a higher quality of workplace decisions, less stress, increase in well-being and higher job satisfaction.

Direct indicators include reduced shirking or abandonment of duties, less tardiness and absences due to sick leaves and zero reports of sabotage.

In Europe, union officers routinely sit in the governing boards of their companies, including stateBUILDING UP'S CAPACITY, p. 12

Figure 1. Stakeholders and convergence in UP’s transparent governance

Filipino people: Taxpayers Demands for solutions to industrialization, poverty, unemployment, economic growth

People’s organizations

Government: Malacañang, Congress

Faculty/Academic Units Staff & REPS

Students

Alumni

Donors

UP Board of Regents

University President & Officials

Expected results: “UP as a great university”

 Innovative leaders in society, industry & economy Increase in quality & quantity of scientific output Breakthroughs in engineering and technology Development of Philippine arts & culture Financial sustainability in university operations UP as a model of good governance Creating the Filipino nation—a work in progress

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Transparency in the Appointment of Public Officials

Photo taken from http://www.gov.ph/2010/10/11/president-aquino-at-the-october-11-2010-oath-taking-ceremonies-of-government-officials/

BY CELESTE ANN CASTILLO LLANETA

I

n March 2008, Senior Superintendent Joel Alvarez, then director for Operations of the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime, made the headlines not for rising in rank and position, but for refusing to do so.

In protest against what he called “too much politicking” in the Philippine National Police (PNP), Alvarez turned down his appointment as Camarines Sur provincial director because, according to him, it did not pass the Senior Officers Placement and Promotions Board (SOPPB) which screens and assesses the qualifications of senior police officers recommended to certain positions.1 In his letters to PNP Chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. and Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund Villafuerte informing them of his decision, Alvarez expressed his grievances over the appointment of police officers, which was often influenced by police generals and politicians.

“It is against my principle to accept such designation because the deliberation proceedings, containing the justification for such selection, have not been made transparent, not only to me, but to my fellow candidates who also deserve the same information,” he wrote in his letter, as reported

by Cecille Suerte Felipe in the March 10, 2008 issue of The Philippine Star. “The decision of the SOPPB…is spurious...It was a reward to quell my indignation that would cause an uproar among the board members and the many beneficiaries of the current promotion and placement system.”

Alvarez’ exceptional response to what many believe is a common occurrence earned for him the respect and admiration of his fellow police officers and the general public. That a single act of honesty generated so much media attention is as much a reflection of the public’s desire for transparency and professionalism in the process of appointing public officers, as it is an indication of the pervasive mindset that regards transparency as only too rare when it comes to public office.

Power conferred by law The power to appoint individuals to posts and positions in public office, as well as the scope and limits of this power, is conferred primarily by law.

“We have a number of laws and institutions related to the matter of the appointment of government officials,” UP College of Law Professor and former Dean Salvador Carlota said. “There are laws which have been enacted by Congress through the years, pertaining to the creation of public offices, and these laws prescribe the qualifications

and disqualifications [for each office]. Then we also have the Constitution, which prescribes the qualifications and disqualifications for holding constitutional offices.”

According to Carlota, the public institutions created directly by the Philippine Constitution include, among others, the Offices of the President and the Vice-President, Bangko Sentral, Commission on Human Rights, the national police force and armed forces, local government units and the Constitutional Commissions—Civil Service Commission, Commission on Elections and the Commission on Audit.

On the side of the judiciary, constitutionallycreated institutions dealing directly with appointed public officials are the Sandiganbayan which handles criminal cases against public officers holding positions from salary grade 27 and higher and the Office of the Ombudsman—both of which fall under Article XI on “Accountability of Public Officers.”

The qualifications and disqualifications for the posts under these offices, including the disabilities and prohibitions regarding the holding of public office, are also stated in the Constitution.

As for offices created by Congress, such as the National Labor Relations Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and other administrative agencies, Carlota said, “They have their own enabling statutes, and usually you find in those statutes creating those offices the qualifications for holding positions of public office in these agencies.”

Expanding the offices, positions, roles and qualifications created by the Constitution is the Administrative Code of 1987 or Executive Order No. 292, the unified general law detailing the structural, functional, and procedural principles and rules of governance. “The Code serves as a basic guideline on practically how the government operates and the structure of the government,” UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG) Dean Edna A. Co said. “It defines the responsibilities of each office and government agency and branches, and the relationships between and among officers of the government...So in a sense, this serves as a Bible for our administrative system. It defines the level of accountability, for instance, [as to] who is responsible for what.”

The Commission on Appointments Under the Philippine Constitution, the President of the Republic is mandated to exercise “control of all the executive departments, bureaus, and offices”

(Section 17, Article VII of the Constitution), and is tasked to select and nominate the heads of “the executive departments, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, or officers of the armed forces form the rank of colonel or naval captain, and other officers,” as well as appoint all other government officials whose appointments are not otherwise provided for by law (Article VII, Section 16).

This kind of authority cannot be taken lightly.

“In our presidential system, the president takes center stage,” Co said. “You would understand why people really strongly aspire for the position, because the power and authority that goes with it is enormous.”

As a check-and-balance mechanism to this immense executive power, the power of the legislative branch of government is brought into play. The constitutionally-created Commission on Appointments (CA) is, according to its website (http://www.comappt.gov.ph/index.php?id1=1), “an independent body separate and distinct from the Legislature, although its membership is confined to members of Congress.” The CA, as stated in Article VI, Section 5 of the Constitution, consists of the Senate President as ex officio Chairman, 12 senators and 12 members of the House of Representatives, and is vested with the power to confirm the appointments made by the President that, under the Constitution, require confirmation.

“The CA does not curtail the President’s appointing authority but serves as a check against its abuse,” the CA website said. “It assures that the President has exercised the power to appoint wisely, by appointing only those who are fit and qualified. To this end, the Rules of the Commission’s Statement of Policy provides that: “The Commission on Appointments hereby declares as its policy that the powers vested in it by the Constitution shall be discharged with only one impelling motive, which is the efficient and harmonious functioning of the government.”

Once the President has named his or her nominees to a position, Carlota said, “they have to pass through the CA, [which] sees to it that [the nominees] have all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications. And if the Commission thinks that they have the qualifications…and the capability to do the job, then they will confirm [the appointments]. Otherwise, theoretically, if they believe that these nominees [are] not fit for the job, and there are so many meritorious complaints about them, then the Commission will reject the appointments.”

TRANSPARENCY, p. 5

FORUM March-April 2011 5 TRANSPARENCY, from p. 4 However, as he points out, history has shown that the CA “seldom rejects any appointment outright. They just let it pass unacted.” Hence, a president who is determined to keep a certain person in a certain post simply resorts to extending the appointment via an ad interim appointment when Congress is not in session.

Career appointments vs confidential appointments Carlota distinguished between two categories of appointments: those appointed to career positions; and those appointed to positions that are primarily confidential.

The provisions for public officials in the career service are fairly straightforward, thanks to the clear Constitutional mandate, reiterated by the Administrative Code’s general provisions for the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

“For purposes of transparency, when you’re talking about career positions, the eligibility and qualification requirements are spelled out in the specific laws regarding these,” Carlota said. “Under Civil Service rules and regulations, we can find out what the eligibilities and requirements are. If you think you can satisfy [these], you can apply [for the post]. In the career program, we usually apply the principle of ‘appointment through merit and fitness.’ In many cases, this is determined by a competitive examination, except for the highly technical positions and closed career positions.”

However, certain appointments are exempted from the rules. According to Republic Act No. 6040 or “An Act to Amend Certain Sections of Republic Act No. 2260, known as the ‘Civil Service Act of 1959,’” positions in the non-competitive service are those declared as such by law and “those which are policy-determining, primarily confidential or highly technical in nature.”

These include, among others, officers appointed by the President with the consent of the CA except provincial treasurers, undersecretaries of departments, chiefs and assistant chiefs of bureaus and offices, and all other inferior officers whose appointments are, by law, vested in the President alone; the secretarial and office staff of the President, Vice-President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress; the secretarial staff of the heads of departments and the justices of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals; and officers required or chosen by Congress in accordance with the Constitution. “[P]rimarily confidential positions [are] a category of appointments wherein the appointee must enjoy the trust and confidence of the appointing power…[and] require utmost confidentiality such as when you deal with confidential matters of state,” Carlota said. “Therefore, even relatives within the prohibited degree can be appointed to a primarily confidential position. [Such a position] is an exemption to the law on nepotism,” which under the Administrative Code prohibits appointments of

relatives within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity of either the appointing authority, recommending authority, chief of bureau or office, or persons exercising immediate supervision over the appointee. Also exempted from this rule are teachers, academic personnel of UP and other government colleges; physicians, persons employed in a confidential capacity and members of the Armed Forces.2 Shades of gray O n p a p e r, t h e l a w s a p p e a r p l a i n a n d unambiguous, literally outlining matters in black and white. However, the human beings who interpret and operate within these laws never conveniently come in black and white. “In the letter of the law, it’s clear. But it’s in carrying out [the laws], in the implementation, where possible discrepancies or imbalances crop up,” Co said.

As an example of these “gray areas,” as she calls them, Co illustrates a potential vulnerability in a scenario that might be more common than we think: A senator or member of the House of Representatives is considering the appointment of an individual to a high public position. He or she holds his or her approval of the appointment until the applicant agrees to make a trade or a negotiation.

In exchange for the approval of the appointment, the applicant enacts a deal that would benefit this legislator’s district.

“These trade-offs or negotiations—what you call ‘favors’—creep in,” Co said. “There are so many intervening factors [that lead to] your being favored over someone who is not necessarily as favored, even though you may have similar qualifications. Or I [as appointing authority] can create a black mark on someone who is probably more qualified because I favor someone who may not be equally qualified.”

At times, these trade-offs, negotiations, and exchanges of favors can go beyond the boundaries of subtlety and become barefaced practices, simply part of “how things are done.” In an interview with The Philippine Star in 2008, Alvarez was quoted as saying that according to the PNP rules and regulations in appointing a police officer, the mayor or governor chooses from the list of three qualified police officers recommended to him or her by the PNP-SOPPB. The reality, however, is very different. “It is common practice now in the PNP for an officer to approach politicians, like governor or mayor, so he [or she] could be appointed to his [or her] province or city. Talagang sisipsip ka na kay governor o kay mayor para ma-appoint. An officer can also approach some generals to back him up in the appointment,” Alvarez said.3 According to Co, this plethora of factors, reasons, justifications, compromises and quid pro quo that come into the selection of one over another all stem from one source—a fallible, changeable and often self-seeking human nature. “This is one of the problems with [our system of] appointments.

On paper, it seems to be all fair and fine. It’s in the execution where all these factors come in that are not necessarily violations of the law.”

the ability to interact well with the personnel, the agency and other offices, and with people in general, the number of seminars attended and so on.

Discretion then “gives a leeway to the appointing authority to exercise judgment as to who among the applicants should fill up the position because he or she can best deliver the required services.” In the career service, for example, if three individuals A, B and C all apply for the same post, it does not follow that A, as the most qualified, will automatically get the post. “It only means that A is qualified, but if B and C also satisfy the minimum eligibility and qualification requirements, then from a legal perspective they are all qualified, and the appointing authority can appoint any one of them.”

Choice vs merit

For Carlota, the ideal is that an appointing authority with the power to choose whom to appoint should always exercise his or her discretionary power of appointment with the public interest in mind. This is the ideal expressed tacitly in our laws.

However, the real world is far from ideal.

“It’s hard to explain,” Co said, especially to a public that does not understand the intricacies of the element of discretion, and who tend to see only the well-written laws and the ham-handed implementation of these laws. “What is affected there is the professionalism in the way the appointment is conducted and the provisions of the law or the Administrative Code are translated.”

The question is how to balance the qualifications, eligibility and experience of the applicant on one hand, and the exercise of choice or discretion on the part of the appointing authority on the other. “I won’t say it’s a problem,” Co said. “It’s a situation where the appointment is really sometimes stronger on the basis of personal choice or discretion [on the part of] the appointing authority, as opposed to the merit principle. I think this has been the discourse in the appointing process for some time, with people saying that appointments should be based on the merit principle.”

Our system of governance as a whole grants the most power to the topmost authority, whose decision usually prevails—unless, Co pointed out, all the qualifications and eligibility requirements of each post were codified in detail. Until then, although the two appointment processes coexist at the moment, the rule of discretion will often prevail over the rule of merit. “But where do we draw the limits of discretion in appointments? It’s not defined, but it’s the prevailing practice unless a law or the Code says otherwise,” Co said. “I think we should take stock of our practice of appointing public officials, review this practice, and make the [necessary] codification.”

The padrino system Perhaps the greater problem (one that overshadows the legal debates over scope and limits of power) is the so-called padrino system or the culture of patronage in Filipino politics, wherein TRANSPARENCY, p. 19

The power of discretion

Former UP Law Dean Salvador Carlota

There are shady practices that appear to be above-board and therefore legal. “You must remember that the appointment process—that is, the exercise of the power to appoint—is also discretionary on the part of the appointing power,” Carlota said. “By that we mean that if there are, let’s say, 20 or more applicants for one position, and all of the applicants satisfy the minimum eligibility and qualification requirements, then the appointing authority can validly appoint any one of them, even if one of the applicants has superior qualifications [than the others].”

This, Carlota said, is because there are many factors that need to be considered when judging who would make a good leader or public official, other than strict eligibility resulting from topping a Civil Service exam. These factors include personality,

UP-NCPAG Dean Edna Co

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FORUM March-April 2011

THE UP FORUM ROUNDTABLE

on

TRANSPARENCY

QHow can UP be a model for transparency in governance?

Bienvenido C. Marzan, DBA Associate Professor Institute of Management Vice-Chancellor for Administration UP Baguio Marzan: Transparency is an essential element of good governance. As individuals and groups gain more access to information, they become more effective in helping attain institutional visions, missions and goals. Although transparency is not the only attribute of good governance, its importance in achieving accountability and higher performance should never be overestimated.

There is one question we need to ask: Do we have systems and instruments to achieve transparency?

In the university, there are builtin mechanisms and structures for information to get to the bottom and back to the top. Among others, we have the College Assemblies, College Executive Board, Executive Staff, Executive Committee and University Council. For faculty and personnel matters, we have the Department/ College Academic Personnel Committees and Administrative Personnel and Fellowship Committees. We also have the General Assembly, various University/College Committees and Task Forces.

Aside from heads of offices and units to facilitate the flow of information, we also have representatives from various sectors such as the faculty, students, administrative staff and alumni. They form part of the Board of Regents which is the highest decisionmaking and policy-formulation body in the university. We therefore have a number of channels where information

can be sourced and processed.

The bigger question, however, is how many of these structures have been effective in facilitating transparency in decision-making.

In order to make UP a model for transparency in governance, there is a need to ascertain whether or not these mechanisms have been valuable in informing those concerned how

"Full transparency can lead to abuse and misuse, depending on the personal interests of individuals and groups. To a large extent, transparency should clearly define the parameters about what is and what is not for public consumption."

— Marzan

critical decisions are made and how the processes are carried out. For example, it is important to know the considerations and issues, perhaps even arguments for and against, involving recommendations and proposals on matters like faculty and personnel recruitment and selection, promotion, retention and tenure; and

on procurement, budget sourcing and allocation, as well as other financial matters.

Another equally important question is how much transparency should there be for UP to indeed be a role model for transparency in governance. How much information should be disclosed? Should the various sectors know everything about how a certain decision had been made? It is important to raise these questions in relation to accountability and responsibility from the points of view of the decision-maker and the end-user. Full transparency can lead to abuse and misuse, depending on the personal interests of individuals and groups. To a large extent, transparency should clearly define the parameters about what is and what is not for public consumption. On the other hand, there should also be clear reasons for withholding information.

Since it is apparent that we have the structures necessary to promote broader participative and consultative decision-making, what is significantly needed is to strengthen and reinforce them to achieve transparency.

Transparency in decision-making is not only achieved when a decision is made and information about it is disseminated. It commences as the process of decision-making begins.

Rañola: Let me start by defining the key terms “UP,” “transparency” and

“governance.” When we talk of UP, we would refer to all its constituents, meaning the administration, faculty, staff and students. Governance, on the other hand, is defined by the United Nations (UN) as “the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented).” Being a model implies good governance that the UN mentions, “has eight major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law.” It assures that corruption and abuse of authority is minimized. The UN further explains, “Transparency means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations.” (U.N., n.d.)

Transparency, however, like other guiding principles is not absolute. It should be balanced with the protection of the rights of individuals, public order and security. It is incumbent upon management, for example, to ensure that sensitive information like financial records is protected from unauthorized parties.

Let me now outline some areas where UP can instill and promote accountable and transparent governance. I would mention in particular the following areas of major concern: The first is improving access to information. It is important

FORUM March-April 2011 7

IN GOVERNANCE

Roberto F. Rañola, Jr., PhD Professor College of Economics and Management Vice-Chancellor for Administration UP Los Baños

Orlino O. Talens, MD, MHPEd Professor College of Medicine Vice-Chancellor for Administration UP Manila

Vicente B. Calag, MSCS, MICT e-Business Assistant Professor College of Science and Mathematics Vice-Chancellor for Administration UP Mindanao

for the UP administration to take steps to improve the access of its constituents to information. The UPLB administration, for example, has taken the giant step of creating the Information Technology Center (ITC) that is tasked to oversee all connectivity requirements and improvements of Internet connection.

It is using this improved connectivity to reach out, consult and inform its staff, students and alumni about decisions made in the university. For example, it has enhanced access to information on document flows with the implementation of the document tracking system so that documents are so much easier to trace now. The plan to put up electronic information boards in the Student Union Building upon completion of its rehabilitation as well as in strategic locations on campus will also improve access to information. On the part of the faculty, staff and student unions/ organizations, their officers should be able to regularly provide members and everyone concerned information on all their activities as well as audited financial statements that show the details of incomes and expenses.

The second is staff recruitment and selection. UPLB has taken steps to recruit and retain the best people to ensure the delivery of professional public service. Recruitment is based on the principle of merit through open competition. Government positions and job descriptions are

well-advertised through postings in the bulletin boards and the Internet.

The process of evaluating applicants is competitive. It also tries to ensure that administrative and appeal procedures are clear. Likewise, the staff and faculty unions/organizations and student organizations should be able to promote the same principles of merit and open competition in the selection of their leaders and assignment to the different committees.

The third is the system of procurement. The UPLB administration is implementing the Government Electronic Procurement System (GEPS). Its goal is to provide a single window for registration of suppliers and posting of bid opportunities for access by suppliers through the Internet.

Reforms were also instituted in the composition of the Bids and Awards Committee to ensure transparency in transactions.The Bids and Awards Committee of the university has taken great pains in setting up welldefined regulations and procedures on procurement that is open to public scrutiny. Many fora were organized to explain the procedures. It has set up clear, standardized tender documents containing complete information.

It provided equal opportunity for all in the bidding process. This has reduced waste with the university, getting value for its money and has instilled confidence among suppliers in the procurement process. Likewise, the faculty, staff and student unions/

organizations should be governed by the same principle of regularity in their system of procuring services and materials.

"The UPLB administration has taken the giant step of creating the Information Technology Center to oversee all connectivity requirements and improvements of Internet connection. It is using this improved connectivity to reach out, consult and inform its staff, students and alumni about decisions made in the university."

— Rañola The fourth is consultative/ participative decision making.

Consultations can be done at different levels where practicable. For example, the UPLB administration under Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco created

the Council of Deans that he consults regularly. These meetings are venues for the different colleges to voice their needs and interests. Part of the participative process is the visioning and planning workshops to get the Executive and Management Committees to meet and lay down the blueprints for action. This process has contributed immensely to the fulfillment of the university’s substantive role as an academic institution. The consultative process initiated by the current leadership has ushered in an Integrated Research, Development and Extension (IRDE) framework, as well as the interdisciplinary academic programs across colleges and secured a solid commitment to pursue it from the general constituency. Student consultations are also done at different levels, depending on the kind of decisions to be made, since it is impossible to consult every student on every decision to be made given the size of the whole studentry.

Likewise, the leadership of the faculty, staff and students should also encourage consultation and participation in their decision-making rather than confine it to a few officers.

It can also undertake regular dialogues with its members so that the views of the majority are reflected in their decisions especially when these will affect them.

The fifth is capacitation of staff ROUNDTABLE, p. 8

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ROUNDTABLE, from p. 7 and promotion of service culture.

The university regularly conducts dialogues and fora for coordination and other resource and information exchanges. The reorganization and creation of new units such as the University Housing Office (UHO) and University Services Management Office (USMO), as well as the provision for new equipment and facilities, aim to enhance efficiency in the delivery of services to students, staff and the community as a whole.

The faculty, staff and student unions should be able to promote this culture among their members.* * United Nations, "What is Good Governance? ", Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), http://www.unescap.org/ pdd/prs/ProjectActivities/Ongoing/gg/ governance.asp.

Talens : For governance to be transparent, the administration should allow its constituents to participate in decision-making. Different sectors should be represented in important committees and activities so they can be accurate sources of information.

Communication lines between the administration and the staff should be open to achieve harmony and understanding.

UP has always been a model for transparency in governance. The administration selects the best in terms of administrative capability, wisdom, honesty and integrity. People who watch the administration, especially those from below, are generally vigilant, concerned and involved in the affairs of the administration and of the university as a whole.

It is not enough for UP to be concerned only with the present situation. It has to nurture future administrators. It has to be a source of leaders of integrity and honesty, leaders who put a premium on transparency as a tool for effective governance. It has to provide a ready supply of capable administrators who will serve other agencies not only today but also in the future.

UP should always be a bastion of integrity and honesty which are basic elements of transparency in governance. A person cannot be transparent if he or she has hidden agenda. Transparency is impossible without openness.

Integrity and honesty should be strongly considered as criteria for UP admission. There is therefore a need for schools of origin to vouch for the character of students who wish to study at UP. For students who are selected but are later found

"To be a continuing model for transparency in governance, UP has to lend its expertise to other agencies by providing a steady supply of graduates for leadership positions at various levels in government and in other sectors."

— Talens wanting in qualities that UP expects, transformation or reorientation of values should be the course of action.

This can be done by improving curriculum content and instruction, in tr o d u c i n g m e a n i n g f u l e x t r a curricular activities, role modelling by members of the faculty and the administrators, and strictly adhering to rules, especially those on cheating.

Faculty selection should also be done carefully. Character and attitude should be important criteria.

Since they are regarded by their students as models, the faculty members should try to live up to their students' expectation and effect a positive attitude among them.

They themselves can be models for transparency in the classroom and in the administrative offices, if ever they become administrators.

UP students are the country's future leaders. A carefully selected studentry, nurtured positively by the University and the faculty, will assure us of leaders of unquestionable integrity who are expected to govern with transparency.

To be a continuing model for transparency in governance, UP has to lend its expertise to other agencies

by providing a steady supply of graduates for leadership positions at various levels in government and in other sectors.

Calag: Transparency is an essential component of democratic societies, particularly in the governance of public institutions like the University of the Philippines.

In general, transparency in governance entails openness, communication, participation, empowerment, democratic decisionmaking, adherence to a merit-based system and promotion of justice and equity. Transparency drives efficiency; increases job satisfaction and productivity; and improves performance, confidence and trust.

The University of the Philippines as a producer of society’s leaders is in the best position to promote transparency in governance and to act as a role model.

At the national level, UP should develop and implement programs

"UP can act as a role model by realigning its internal processes and policies. UP should ensure availability, accessibility and sharing of information; it should conduct regular consultations with stakeholders and constituents, instill the value of honesty to students, and disclose its financial allocation, income and expenditures."

— Calag to combat graft and corruption.

This can be done through research, fora, training and capacity-building programs in partnership with civil

society organizations (CSOs) that serve as watchdogs of government.

At the institutional level, UP can act as a role model by re-aligning its internal processes and policies. UP should ensure a v a i l a b i l i t y, a c c e s s i b i l i t y a n d sharing of information; it should conduct regular consultations with stakeholders and constituents, instill the value of honesty to students, and disclose its financial allocation, income and expenditures.

Sharing of information between the UP System and its constituent units (CUs) should be enhanced with the use of information and communication technology (ICT).

UP policies and standards, both at the system and CU levels, should be made available in the website. The sharing of data, such as the number of personnel or enrollees, between the UP System and the CUs remains a challenge. Currently, sharing of these data is still done via email, fax or hard copies, and it sometimes takes days to complete.

To expedite the exchange of information, UP may come up with standardized information systems for all CUs or enhance existing information systems to enable them to exchange data instantly and smoothly.

At the CU level, administrative processes should be computerized to accelerate data sharing. The academic and research units should also be proactive in making their information available, accessible and up-to-date in the Internet.

At the classroom level, UP should not only develop critical thinking among the students, but also train them to be honest, responsible and better citizens.

UP should produce leaders who value excellence, honesty, integrity, honor and patriotism.

To be a model for transparency in governance, UP should continue to conduct regular consultations with its constituents and stakeholders, such as the alumni and students, in making decisions. It can take full advantage of the new media to solicit public opinion on various issues. UP should be open to constant checking and monitoring, constructive criticisms and dissenting opinions. It is a great opportunity to get the ordinary people involved in governance.

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DILG as Model of Transparency

By Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc

F

or Jesse Robredo (MBA'85), secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), people empowerment is the essence of good democratic governance. And transparency will ensure that people can engage government in an informed manner, make people realize that they are stakeholders in the business of government and consequently make them trust the latter.

“Promoting engagement is the most basic thing about good governance. And the only way to promote informed engagement is if we provide information freely,” Robredo said. “If people do not have access to information, then they cannot engage intelligently with their local official.”

Speaking from his experience in local government which earned him the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Robredo said, “In order for us to engage with [the people], we [in government] should come up with mechanisms and structures by which they will be informed and by which they will be empowered.”

Owning government “To my mind, transparency is only a means by which you build stakeholdership and make people realize that governance is not just the government,” he said. People stakeholdership constitutes a very powerful political investment. People get to own the candidate, and not the other way around. “Today, in many parts of the country, the candidate owns the voters,” he said. It is clear that transparency tilts the balance in favor of the people—something traditional politicians find unacceptable.

If the people are engaged, informed and part of government, they make reasonable expectations.

“You cannot give what you do not have,” Robredo said. People would know the kind and extent of help that the provincial, town, or city government can provide because they would see the allocation for these public services. “Malalaman natin kung hanggang saan tayo maaaring tumulong sa ating lokal na pamahalaan upang mapunuan ang anumang pagkukulang na resulta ng kakulangan ng pondo,” Robredo said in a previously published statement.

The trust factor and development Was transparency vital to his development goals for Naga City (where he served as mayor) from the very beginning? “[The people] will be willing to pay more taxes and will be ready to assume more

obligations…if people trust government,” Robredo said. “I believe that to promote trust in government, it is important for people to know that leadership is not hiding anything.”

Robredo also stressed the relation between transparency and economic development. “If government is transparent and accountable, we can be sure public funds will be spent properly…for roads, bridges, school buildings and other necessities.” In addition, investors will be motivated to do business if “under the table” deals were eradicated.

A politician’s real worth Transparency bodes well for meritorious public servants or those who promote a culture of meritocracy. Robredo said, “A transparent and accountable government makes it easy for citizens to evaluate and measure the performance and worth of their elected officials. The people are able to weigh the sense or the lack of it behind the leaders’ decision-making.”

Robredo may have been elected the first time under circumstances that used the techniques of traditional politics. But having rallied the people to involve themselves in governing the city through innovative representations in City Hall, the people were introduced to new, non-traditional politics which they now identify with and espouse after seeing that it worked for them. As a result, Robredo was elected for two more consecutive terms.

Transparency thus perpetuates a political playing field that is open to all deserving players.

The Naga City empowerment case Robredo’s administration of Naga City provided a model for people empowerment through partnership with civil society. In 1995, the local government enacted a landmark law, the “Empowerment Ordinance of Naga City.” According to Robredo’s biography for his Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, the law made possible the institutionalization of the “people’s council,” a network of non-government organizations (NGOs) and other civil society organizations (CSOs) in Naga City. The council is tasked to appoint NGO representatives to local government bodies to observe, vote, and participate in the deliberation, conceptualization, implementation and evaluation of projects, activities and programs of the city

government. The representatives can propose legislation, participate and vote at the committee level of the City Council. “They represent the people in the exercise of their constitutional rights to information on matters of public concern and of access to official records and documents,” Robredo’s biography stated.

The city and the civil society adopted a full disclosure policy. “A website and a charter define the obligations of city hall on its constituency which empowers the residents to make city hall accountable based on defined norms and standards of service delivery.” The website further reveals allotment of funds, status of funds and bidding processes, among others, to the tiny detail of a pencil bought.

Where it’s needed the most Still, others may argue that Naga City is an isolated case and that in a Third World country transparency could be sacrificed so things could move faster. Robredo said that it is precisely in Third World countries where transparency should be promoted. In developed countries, there is a greater presumption that government transactions are above board.

“In a third world country, it’s more needed, because…usually you have leaders who are elected not because they deserve it but because they have the financial resources and are maybe mere captives of private interests [from which these resources come],” Robredo said. According to him, while government can move faster by skipping steps to inform people, it comes at a great cost. “In a Third World country, if there’s no transparency, leaders have absolute power…[and they could become] abusive.”

Transparency at DILG As DILG secretary, Robredo continues to operate under the three core values of transparency, accountability and performance. The Naga City experience has thus become the model for the reforms he is instituting at the national level.

The full disclosure policy he led in Naga City is reincarnated at the DILG after extensive dialogues and consultations with local government units (LGUs) and other development partners. Robredo’s administration is capitalizing on past and newlyminted laws to implement this policy for local DILG AS MODEL, p. 12

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The long road to FOI

By Rod P. Fajardo III

S

ix centuries ago, Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press accelerated the spread of information, to put it quantitatively, by a factor of a thousand. A century ago, Alan Turing’s digital computer speeded it up further by a factor of a million.

The upshot? We now live in a wired, networked, global world.

Most countries have readily become comfortable with and even thrive in the idea of openness and free flow of information. As of April 2010, at least 80 states have enacted into law the right of, and procedures for the public to request and receive government-held information. Sweden was the first to enact a right to information law in 1766, followed

by Finland much later in 1953, and by the United States in 1966.

Like a shaft of sunlight In the Philippines, however, Congress is taking it ever so slowly to legislate freedom of information (FOI), a right that is already guaranteed in the Constitution.

Article II, Section 28 of the 1987 Constitution directs the national government to adopt and implement a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest. This mandate is amplified in Article III, Section 7 which recognizes the right of the people to information on matters of public concern.

It also affords the citizens access to official records, documents, and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development.

Quoting US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who said that “sunlight is the best disinfectant,” Prof. Solomon F. Lumba of the UP College of Law compared the transparency provisions in the Constitution to sunlight on a cloudy day.

“We need to part the clouds in order to let the sunlight in and dispel the shadows that hide the many vampires, goblins and aswangs in government,” he said. “This is essentially what an FOI law does.

It makes effective the transparency provisions in the Constitution; it allows ‘sunlight’ to do what it naturally does—disinfect.”

The FOI bill came very close to getting enacted on June 4, 2010 or on the last day of the 14th Congress. Although the bill was right on top of the legislative agenda, it was not ratified as the House of Representatives failed to reach a quorum with only 128 lawmakers in attendance.

Proponents of the FOI found a new champion in President Benigno Aquino III who, during the May 2010 elections, ran on the platform of transparency and accountability. In his campaign sorties, he repeatedly assured voters that he would support their right to information. But last February 28, at the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory

Council meeting, the President submitted a list of 17 priority legislative measures, with the FOI bill noticeably missing.

Lumba found ironic President Aquino’s decision to backtrack on the FOI since the latter voted for the bill when he was still a senator. Lumba said that the non-inclusion of the FOI bill in the Palace priority list “certainly makes the campaign more of an uphill climb. Like it or not, the realpolitik is that some legislators, especially in the House, take their cue from the President. If he’s not fully committed to passing the bill, then you can’t expect these legislators to stick their necks out for it, too.”

Ryan Oliva, a senior student at the UP College of Law and convenor of the Student Initiative for Legislation on Access to Information by the Public (SILIP), agreed. “We all know that the President, through his ruling party in Congress, can make things possible. President Aquino’s decision not to include the FOI bill in his list of priority measures will slow down our right to information campaign.”

Proposals, counter-proposals Malacañang has raised concerns about the FOI measure being open to abuse and misuse. At a press briefing on February 28, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda announced that the government is currently conducting an inter-agency review of the bills pending in Congress and, at the same time, studying the US Freedom of Information Act and the UK Official Secrecy Act. Based on its findings,

UP College of Law Prof. Solomon F. Lumba

he said, the Palace will draft its own version of the bill, addressing such concerns as striking a balance between the individual’s right to privacy and the public’s right to information.

Lumba, who is also affiliated with the Right to Know Right Now! Coalition, a 150-member network of organizations and individuals from various sectors, welcomed Malacañang’s proposal to create an Information Committee. “The United Kingdom, for example, has an independent Information Commissioner’s Office to uphold information rights.

It should be noted, however, that a similar proposal was made a few Congresses ago but was shot down by some legislators because it would add to the bureaucracy. But structurally speaking, it is really the best way to go.”

A provision on the protection of whistleblowers, according to Lumba, is also a good idea. He clarified, however, that a whistleblower bill is already going through a separate legislative process.

The Palace also wants to review the verbiage of national security exception from disclosure in the FOI bill. “This is acceptable. National security is one of the traditional exceptions to the right to information. The important thing is that the final verbiage be narrowly drawn. If it is too general, then anything can be argued to fall under national security, rendering the right nugatory,” said Lumba.

Similarly, he said that the proposal to include the deliberative process privilege as part of the exceptions in order to preserve the quality of decision-making is reasonable. “Government officials will be less candid with their opinions during deliberations if they knew that these would be plastered all over the quadri-media the next day.”

As for exploratory talks involving commercial transactions which the Palace wants to include as part of the exceptions among the accessible information, Lumba said, “This is negotiable, as long as it is established that its benefits clearly outweigh the costs, and the verbiage is narrowly drawn.”

However, he said that the proposal to delete the penal provisions is not a good idea. “Without the penal provisions, an FOI law would just be a glorified version of RA 6713—all bark, no bite.

Penal provisions will really help create a culture of transparency in government. It compels our officials to give heightened attention to the citizens’ right to information. With penal provisions in place, such right will always be at the forefront of their consciousness.”

Lumba said that an FOI law must provide for a presumption in favor of access to all information held by the government, a bill of exceptions that must both be limited in scope and narrowly drawn, and a “public interest” override clause to allow access to THE LONG ROAD, p. 11

FORUM March-April 2011 11 THE LONG ROAD, from p. 10 information even if it is covered by the exceptions. It should also spell out procedures that facilitate speedy, timely and inexpensive access to information, and review of denials to such access. It must also have a list of key information that government must not only allow access to but must proactively disclose; and protection of government officials and employees who, in good faith, allow access to or disclose information that are covered by the exceptions. Most important, it should specify criminal penalties for willful violation of the right to information.

Before the shot clock goes off At present, the FOI bill is with the Committees on Public Information in the Senate and the House of Representatives and with the President’s Inter-Agency Committee. “Let us hope that these committees are not just running out the 24-second shot clock. This is why the Right to Know Right Now! Coalition is trying to engage these committees to commit to a time frame,” Lumba said.

At the UP College of Law, Oliva said SILIP is getting in touch with other students through social networking sites to educate the public and reach out to policy makers about the need for an FOI law.

“Everyone should know that access to information is a right guaranteed by the Constitution. If the people themselves do not realize the value of this important right, they cannot push their elected representatives to enact the FOI bill.”

But with all the wheeling and dealing, flipflopping commitments, backdoor negotiations that have surrounded and continue to surround the campaign for a freedom of information law, Lumba is wary about the final version of the bill. “Let us hope that if the bill ever comes out of [the Senate and the House] committees, it would not be so emasculated as to render the right nugatory. After all, there’s a saying that a donkey is a horse created by a committee.”

Freedom of information is ultimately about good governance—informed citizen participation in government decision-making, enhanced government accountability and transparency, and accessible government programs and services. Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Irene Cortes, in deciding the case of Valmonte v. Belmonte, said it best: “An informed citizenry with access to the diverse currents in political, moral and artistic thought and data relative to them, and the free exchange of ideas and discussion of issues thereon, is vital to the democratic government envisioned under our Constitution….Denied access to information on the inner workings of government, the citizenry can become prey to the whims and caprices of those to whom the power had been delegated.”

-----------------------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph.

SILIP convenor Ryan Oliva

The road that must be taken

T

here are at least 12 bills on the proposed Freedom of Information (FOI) Act currently referred to the House Committee on Public Information for deliberation.

These are House Bill Number (HBN) 11 by Rep. Rodolfo G. Biazon; HBN 22 by Rep. Marcelino R. Teodoro; HBN 53 by Rep Lorenzo R. Tañada; HBN 59 by Rep. Karlo Alexei B. Nograles; HBN 86 by Rep. Juan Edgardo M. Angara; HBN 301 by Reps. Walden F. Bello and Arlene Bag-ao; HBN 133 by Reps. Teodoro A. Casiño and Neri Javier Colmenares; HBN 830 by Rep. Pedro P. Romualdo; Photo taken from http://www.hroptions.co.za/legislation.php HBN 1968 by Rep. Rachel Marguerite B. Del Mar; HBN 2128 by Rep. Winston T. Castelo; and HBN 2969 by Rep. Salvador H. Escudero III. The Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition, which actively monitored and participated in the efforts toward the enactment of the consolidated FOI bill during the 14th Congress, examined all versions and identified the features that would make the Freedom of Information Act progressive and reasonable.

Similarly, it registered its objections to proposed provisions that defeat the objectives of the right to information campaign.

In a letter to Rep. Ben P. Evardone, chairperson of the House Committee on Public Information, the coalition proposed that in the consolidation of all 12 bills, the committee should adopt those bills that embody the bicameral conference report of the 14th Congress as starting point. “This version has been thoroughly discussed through the full legislative process in the last Congress―from first reading to third reading in both Houses, to the version reconciled and unanimously approved and signed by the bicameral conference committee.”

The coalition said that HBN 11, 53, 301 2969 adopted in full the 14th Congress conference committee report. As for the other bills, it made a distinction between provisions that are advantageous and those that are disadvantageous to the proposed Freedom of Information Act. Under HBN 1713, the coalition supported improvements proposed in Section 5, which states positively the right of every Filipino to request and be given access to government records. It provides a right-duty symmetry by stating the right before proceeding to spell out the duty imposed on government agencies in the succeeding sentence.

Section 8, which provides for protection of privacy, is also a welcome proposal but it should expressly state that it pertains to private persons, that is, those who are neither incumbent officials or employees of a government agency nor past officials with respect to personal information relating to their former public function. Section 9, meanwhile, requires the prompt and mandatory disclosure of “information about a risk of significant harm to the environment or to the health or safety of the public.”

As for HBN 133, the coalition recognized the two major revisions that the bill introduces. First, it does away with all the exceptions for public access to information. Access may be denied only based on substantial evidence that the purpose of the requested access to information is to abet or promote or commit criminal acts, or to engage in sheer and idle curiosity. Second, it shifts the initiation of a court case, from a citizen making an appeal from a denial of a request for information, to government applying for a court order prohibiting the grant of access to information.

The coalition stressed that the bicameral version already stipulates that examination of records for an unlawful purpose is not allowed. If a government agency is in possession of substantial evidence that the examination of the information is for an unlawful purpose, it has the right, even though not explicitly provided in the bicameral bills, to go to court to apply for an order to allow it to prohibit access where no other exception applies. As to “sheer or idle curiosity” as a basis for refusal of access, the coalition disagreed that it should be allowed as an exception as it is open to arbitrary interpretation.

As regards HBN 59, 830 and 2128, the coalition opposed particular revisions being proposed.

HBN 59 introduces a new section on non-retroactive effect which provides that all public information covering matters or transactions that took place before the passage of the act shall be put under seal. All public information covering matters or transactions taking place after the passage of the Act shall be available only during the incumbency of the President under which the matter or transaction took place.

All such information under seal may be released only by a special law, or through a subpoena duces tecum issued by a court or by Congress.

This non-retroactivity provision, according to the coalition, is an unreasonable limitation of the right as it will defeat the people’s right to information rather than promote or protect it. The constitutional guarantee of citizen’s access to information does not make any distinction as to when the matter or transaction referred to was recorded. In addition, the non-retroactivity provision has the effect of negating the public right nature of the constitutional guarantee on access to information. The Supreme Court has consistently held that a citizen need not show a present and existing interest of a pecuniary character in the information sought to be regarded a party in interest in a case to compel access to information. Making historical information accessible to the public only by a subpoena duces tecum implies that access requires evidentiary relevance in an ongoing case, in which the citizen must be a party having personal interest.

Meanwhile, HBN 830 introduces a number of exceptions that are either over-broad, vague, or highly discretionary as to nullify the constitutional right to information. One example is Section 6 (e), which exempts from access “information that affects our national sovereignty.” National sovereignty refers to the power of an independent state to govern itself and to conduct foreign relations. Indeed it covers virtually all aspects of governance, and all acts and transactions of government can be argued to affect national sovereignty. Another example is found in Section 6 (g), exempting information “which may affect the interest of the Republic of the Philippines abroad,” and similarly, Section 6 (i), exempting information “that affects the economic interest of the Republic of the Philippines within and outside the country.” This gives the government a roving discretion in refusing access to information, as all policies can be argued to affect the economic interest of the country.

With regard to HBN 2128, it adds a highly discretionary exception. Specifically, Section 7 (l) exempts information which, “in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.” The Supreme Court has time and again emphasized the repugnance of arbitrariness to fundamental rights. In the case of Legaspi v. Civil Service Commission, the high court ruled: “Without a government’s acceptance of the limitations imposed upon it by the Constitution in order to uphold individual THE ROAD THAT MUST BE TAKEN, p. 12

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DILG AS MODEL, from p. 9 governments. These are the Local Government Code of 1991 and Section 90 of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2011. Under these laws, the local government—provincial, city, and town—must publish their local budget and finances and bids and public offerings in the Internet, widely-circulated publications in the community or through posters placed in conspicuous public places.

Robredo said that the DILG has required full disclosure of the local government’s calendar year (CY) 2010 annual budget; quarterly statements of cash flows; a CY 2009 statement of receipts and expenditures; utilization of the Trust, Special Education and Gender and Development Funds and 20 percent component of the internal revenue allotment (IRA); statements on debt service and annual procurement plans; items to bid, bid results on civil works and goods and services; and abstract of bids as calculated.

“This policy also covered the LGU budgeting process which makes the process very transparent to the general public. Likewise, the DILG enjoined members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod and Bayan to thoroughly review ordinances passed by the barangays, especially those pertaining to charges and fees the latter impose to ensure that they are neither excessive nor unjust and that all have undergone the required public hearing,” the DILG’s annual report stressed.

“In a Joint Memorandum with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), a Certification of Full Public Disclosure from the DILG Provincial Director, City Director, City Local Government Operations Officer or Municipal Local Government Operations Officer is made a precondition in the review and approval by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan or by the DBM regional offices of the annual budgets of concerned local governments.

Failure to submit said Certification shall be a ground for the non-review and non-approval of the annual budget of a non-complying local government.”

DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo

This seal is essential for LGUs to avail of the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF), meant to “enhance the role of provincial governments in determining investment projects beneficial to the community and the people and ensuring the attainment of development goals in cooperation with their counterpart LGUs.” According to DILG records, an initial amount of P30 million was distributed in October to 15 Fourth-Sixth Class LGUs that successfully earned the Seal. “By 2011, P500 million shall be allotted for the all-out implementation of the program, with the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) committing their help in managing the fund.”

DILG also signed a memorandum of agreement with Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN) and Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODENGO) “to effectively mobilize and engage [civil society organizations] as partners in promoting accountability, transparency, inclusivity and performance in local administration and development.”

National Police Commission, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Philippine Public Safety College and the Local Government Academy.

Transparency in budget processes is ensured by posting on the DILG website the department’s Annual Budget/Fund Release, Quarterly Statement of Statement of Allotment, Obligations and Balances (SAOB), Procurement Activities and Construction Projects.

The Bids and Awards and Disposal Committees were reconstituted and now include a representative from the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) who is given observer status. The DILG intends to expand the role of private partner in the bidding process, particularly in the crafting of a uniform set of standards and specifications of supplies and equipment to be procured.

“The reforms we have instituted in our own procurement processes have made the department more transparent and have reduced discretion of people involved in the process and generated savings that have been channeled and utilized for other meaningful undertakings,” the DILG annual report said.

As employed by Naga City, the Internet is used as a tool for transparency. The DILG website has been made more interactive. It allows the public to comment on draft policy issuances of the department before these take into effect. The website also features a Public Assistance and Complaint System.

Defying resistance

Within the DILG, several measures were undertaken to ensure transparency. “First we required all agencies of the DILG to post their budgets on the website,” Robredo said. A whole section of the DILG website is devoted to fund statuses of the department,

The current policies at DILG have to be institutionalized and backed up by legislation to make them permanent. For this purpose, Robredo is coordinating with concerned parties to have the policy of full disclosure adopted by succeeding GAAs. There is also a bill mandating the compulsory participation of NGOs in the budget process of the LGU. At present, Robredo said that the DILG is meeting resistance from some LGUs and has a pending case at the Supreme Court. “Sa lahat ng pagbabago mayroong kokontra especially when you make people more accountable. If they can avoid it, they will avoid it.…I think that petition in the Supreme Court to nullify the directive is really a manifestation of people not wanting to make everyone know what’s happening,” Robredo said.

In the end, however, Robredo is confident that political will shall prevail. “Tiyak ko, kaya natin.”

(I’m sure we can do it.)

-------------------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph.

THE ROAD THAT MUST BE TAKEN, from p. 11 liberties, without an acknowledgement on its part of those duties exacted by the rights pertaining to the citizens, the Bill of Rights becomes a sophistry, and liberty, the ultimate illusion.”

Furthermore, HBN 830 assigns the primary burden of proof in accessing information to the requesting public. The coalition said that this violates the constitutional guarantee that, “in case of denial of access, the government agency has the burden of showing that the information requested is

not of public concern, or, if it is of public concern, that the same has been exempted by law from the operation of the guarantee.”

HBN 830 also expands the coverage of the duty to disclose information to include “private institutions including the media.” The coalition said that the private sector’s duty to disclose information to the public is better tackled in a separate bill or measure. By the structure of the bill of rights, it mainly addresses the limiting of government powers.

In pushing for the passage of the Freedom of Information Act, the coalition made it clear that the objective is not to use information “to exact ransom, extort money or property, coerce government in changing policies to conform to our whims, caprices and syndicated acts, or to harass people in government.” Instead, the goal is to make informed participation in government decisionmaking, enhance government accountability, and assist in making government programs and services accessible to the public.

BUILDING UP'S CAPACITY, from p. 3 owned corporations. This is possible since most European countries pursue “social partnership,” emphasizing productive dialogue and negotiations between employers and organized employees.

Philippine labor–management relations, however, remain stuck in the limbo of antagonistic mindsets, long abandoned by their US authors. Most leaders are still unaware of the social partnership model of industrial relations, which, among others, call for union officers as governing directors and dialogue partners.

The European Works Council Act of 2002, through a directive, required employee representation in enterprises with at least 50 employees. The works councils were established to institutionalize the

right to information and consultation of workers in Europe. In the London Transport company which runs the subways and buses, union officers sit in the governing board. In France, trade unions designate representatives from among their elected members on the company works council or national works council. In Sweden, trade unions who represent the majority of the workforce and who have a collective agreement select the employee representative.

In 2002, Europe’s Council and Parliament enacted a general framework for informing and consulting employees (Directive 2002/14/EC).

Employee information and consultation covers three areas: economic, financial and strategic developments; structure and foreseeable development of employment and related measures; and decisions

likely to lead to substantial changes in work organization or contractual relations. By March 2005, Europe’s member-states were required to implement the directive in national legislation and lay down procedures through which companies would have to inform their employees about their employer’s economic situation and to inform and consult them on issues concerned with employment and work organization.5 Union representation in governing boards of enterprises is a global phenomenon. Many Israeli enterprises are practically run by labor unions. They are in the governing boards of enterprises as union officers. The same is true in Singapore, where leaders of the National Trade BUILDING UP'S CAPACITY, p. 17

Seal of good housekeeping Another measure implemented by Robredo is the Seal of Good Housekeeping which is meant as a performance incentive to LGUs. How the LGU performed in terms of transparency is one of its major parameters, alongside planning, fiscal management, accountability and valuing performance monitoring. Among the requirements for the seal is full disclosure and a clean bill from the Commission on Audit (COA).

Practicing what it preaches

FORUM March-April 2011 13

Whistleblowers and the Culture of Corruption

By Celeste Ann Castillo Llaneta

L

ike a small hall of heroes—or a grim lineup of warnings—SPOT.ph’s February 10 article titled the “10 Most Controversial Filipino Whistleblowers” (http://www.spot.ph/ featured/47591/10-controversial-filipino-whistleblowers) lists the most prominent names in recent history among those who chose to reveal the truth about some of the darkest acts committed by those in power—Heidi Mendoza, George Rabusa, Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr., Mary “Rosebud” Ong, Clarissa Ocampo, Chavit Singson, Vidal Doble, Primitivo “Tibo” Mijares, Jibin Arula, and the masked man dubbed as “Koala Bear.”

The list recalls the issue against which the whistleblower spoke, his or her revelation and, for some, what happened to him or her as a result. All except one reads like a morality play gone wrong: jobs lost, homes abandoned, lives utterly disrupted, motivation and character maligned in court and in the media, family members kidnapped and brutally slain, years spent living in fear and hiding, with some mysteriously disappearing and, perhaps, even killed.

The lone exception is Chavit Singson who went on to get reelected governor of Ilocos Sur. One “happy ending” out of 10 hardly qualifies as excellent odds. It makes one wonder why anyone would bother to risk so much—to risk everything, in fact—to reveal a hidden truth. Then again, given the stories they had to tell, one also wonders whether we can afford not to let their truths ring forth.

Pakikipagkapwa—the root of corruption?

To give one a taste of the colossal ordeal a whistleblower must go through, UP Diliman Department of Psychology Chair Aurora Corpuz Mendoza raised this question: Suppose you were a university student in the middle of an exam and you saw your seatmate cheating, would you report your classmate’s misdeed then and there?

“We can be so moralistic. We say, ‘I don’t know why that person can’t talk about the rotten system in this government,’” Corpuz Mendoza said. “But if we were in this student’s place, would it be easy to say, ‘This person is cheating’? You would stop to think about it. It’s not as easy as just being honest and simply saying what the truth is.”

The difficulty behind this question revolves around the concept of kapwa, the root of the word pakikipagkapwa. This distinctly Filipino value—or

rather a twisted and misused version of it—is often blamed as one of the root causes of the rampant corruption in our public institutions. “Kapwa is a notion of identity that is not based on our individual sense of self, which is a very Western thing,” Corpuz Mendoza said. “It is based on your sense of self that is in relation to other people. The term kapwa is not an individual but rather a unified entity that involves two or more people.”

For Filipinos, it’s all about relationships, especially with those with whom we share certain bonds or similarities that are as hard to define as they are to resist. According to Corpus Mendoza, the idea of kapwa is somewhat different from the in-group, out-group notion in sociology and social psychology. People within a recognized group might not consider one another kapwa. On the other hand, the bonds of kapwa have been known to extend far and wide, as demonstrated by the thousands of Filipinos who came together during Typhoon Ondoy. The sense of pakikipagkawa, the extension of our sense of self to include another human being, compels us to treat our kapwa as we would ourselves, and to protect our kapwa from unpleasant situations. This idea of kapwa, which has been drummed into us since infanthood, is a powerful unconscious force, and a morally ambiguous one despite its negative effects.

“Is it good or bad? We cannot make judgments about that,” Corpuz Mendoza said. “We just want to know to what extent we would want that particular kind of behavior to be modified in order to make our democracy more efficient.” A common situation in public offices—the tendency of employees to take office supplies home to their children—is a manifestation of pakikipagkapwa.

“It’s acceptable to us, because it’s for the children, and how can you possibly not give what your child needs?” Corpuz Mendoza said. “We don’t see the wrongness in the act because our value for kapwa is more intense than our value for—what is it?

We don’t even know. We don’t have a name for it, because it’s never been taught to us as consistently as kapwa has been taught to us.”

This nameless concept that has been sacrificed to kapwa is the nation or the public good, the concept of an institution even greater than the traditional bulwarks of kapwa: family, school, church, community, organization or regional or linguistic tribe. But even in our ideas of public and

private, the lines are blurred; it is still just kapwa extended to a large group, that is, to all employees to whom stealing office supplies is standard practice. “Kapwa naman tayo diyan, and these are for our families.’ [Hence], we put these ahead [of the public good], because we’re more assured of going to heaven if we take care of our children as opposed to the probability that we would go to hell because we stole a couple of paper clips. Not to mention that we would not even consider that stealing because of the way we were socialized,” Corpuz Mendoza said.

The idea of pakikipagkapwa also explains the perplexingly negative reactions against Lt. Col. George Rabusa, whose revelation that he delivered P50 million worth of pabaon to then AFP Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes eventually led to the latter’s suicide. “The person who blew the whistle is now considered the person to blame for another person…terminating his life,” Corpuz Mendoza said. By telling the truth, Rabusa had violated the rules of pakikipagkapwa. For many Filipinos, these unspoken rules hold sway even over the laws of the land.

Horizontal accountability For UP College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Dean Michael Tan, the fact that Filipinos don’t have a word for “whistleblower”— aside from the loose translation sumbungero—is a tell-tale sign. (On the other hand, the Center for People Empowerment in Governance’s Corruptionary [2008] lists an entire dictionary’s worth of Filipino words for “corruption.”) The lack of an equivalent word for whistleblower “certainly reflects the fact that we are a society that is still very feudal, where what is operational is something like the Mafia oath of omerta,” Tan said. “[Omerta means] ‘be silent no matter what is happening.’ And that is a big, big obstacle to transparency and accountability.” Omerta, a form of loyalty to and protection of the family or the institution, or in a feudal sense the loyalty of a serf for a master who is considered superior, no matter how corrupt, is evident in all institutions at every level—even, Tan said, within the University. This Filipino attitude of loyalty to the master goes back even before the Spaniards arrived, during the time of the datus—what historian Renato Constantino referred to as the “proto-feudal” state.

WHISTLEBLOWERS, p. 14

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FORUM March-April 2011

Right to left: UP Dept. of Psychology Chair Aurora Corpuz Mendoza, UP CSSP Dean Michael Tan, UP Asian Center Dean Mario Miclat

WHISTLEBLOWERS, from p. 13 Besides the culture of omerta, another obstacle to transparent and truthful governance is the lack of horizontal accountability among government agencies. Horizontal accountability is a term coined by Argentinian political scientist Guillermo O’Donnell, which Tan discussed in his March 1 column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. It is defined as “the existence of state agencies that are legally enabled or empowered, and factually willing and able, to take actions that span from routine oversight to criminal sanctions or impeachment in relation to actions or omissions by other agents or agencies of the State that may be qualified as unlawful.” Ideally, “preventive” agencies which are tasked to ensure accountability among other government agencies—Commission on Audit, Sandiganbayan, Presidential Commission on Good Government, Office of the Ombudsman and the like—must be “highly professionalized,” “endowed with adequate resources” and independent and free from “political interference.”

“After our Edsa revolt in 1986, we did attempt to build this horizontal accountability…but, alas, all we saw [was]…an epidemic of investigations,” Tan wrote in his column. “Meanwhile, we were neglecting older government agencies such as the Commission on Audit. We saw how one of the auditors, Heidi Mendoza, did her job so well checking the AFP’s books that she was asked by superiors to back off.”

Unfortunately, in the case of the Philippines where horizontal accountability is weak, what we get is a whistleblower risking her life to reveal an act of corruption, the subsequent flurry of congressional investigations and the flood of opinion from the media…and often nothing more. The case is “resolved” or drags on with no conviction in sight. In cases where the wrongdoers are convicted, they are either pardoned or voted into office during the next elections. The media move on to the next circus act, the frustrated public grows increasingly cynical and disenfranchised, and the whistleblower will have sacrifi ced all hope of a normal life in return for years of disillusionment. Yet another reason for a potential whistleblower to think twice.

Mabait na tao vs mabuting tao Besides pakikipagkapwa, Tan also noted another peculiar Filipino value that serves to stack up the odds against a whistleblower. He recalled how Reyes, in the middle of the Congressional hearing, turned to Rabusa and asked, “Naging ganid o suwapang ba ako sa iyo?”

Reyes’ question, Tan said, is very revealing.

“What was hinted there was, you can be corrupt, basta huwag kang maging ganid o suwapang. [I]t is okay to be corrupt, as long as you are mabait and willing to share, galante even with what you stole. [When Reyes asked Rabusa that], it was almost like [saying], ‘I was good to you, so why

are you doing this to me?’”

The dichotomy of “mabait” (i.e., generous and willing to share) and “mabuti” (meaning upright, just or honorable) comes into play in the relationship between Filipinos and their leaders.

Ex-President Joseph Estrada, who was booted out of office and convicted of plunder, was described by many as “mabait.” In many offices, honorable and ethical leaders are unloved because they are not “mabait,” while corrupt leaders who are perceived as “mabait” despite stealing from public funds are adored, admired and invited to be godparents at weddings and christenings. “It’s going to the very core of our expectations in leadership, that a leader is acceptable as long as he [or she] is ‘mabait’ in the sense that he [or she] is willing to give crumbs. I’ve always asserted that what we need is a definition of a ‘mabuting tao,’ not just ‘mabait,’” Tan said, adding that social scientists should shed more light on this issue.

Life in two worlds

Because of this narrow view of ourselves, the rules of tribal living still play out, where the strongest members are chosen as leaders until supplanted by someone stronger. This can be most clearly seen during elections. “It’s not about who is the most qualified, it’s who is the strongest. Then we side with him [or her]. We choose who is the most likely to win because he [or she] is more powerful, and later, we shift our loyalties to another person who is perceived to be stronger. Nobody calls us a traitor, because we are just being practical,” Miclat said, adding that this attitude toward leadership was apparent in Mongolia during its own nationbuilding period in the time of Genghis Khan.

In modern times, however, when corrupt leaders easily take on trappings of power, strength and success, this tribal attitude toward governance ends up wreaking havoc upon our own institutions.

There is a need then to examine the ways these two systems operate in our lives and to reflect on the effects of such a divided way of thinking.

UP Asian Center Dean Mario Miclat recalled a saying: “Walang sikreto sa Pilipinas.” Ordinary Filipinos have a tendency to spill truths and do so liberally in the form of gossip. Even petty criminals caught by the police tend to spill the beans willingly enough even though doing so would be self-incriminatory. But how does this explain the silence and secrecy that enshroud our public institutions?

For Miclat, it is not that we lack truth-tellers; it is that we lack a respect for the rule of law.

This is because the law tends to be regarded as a different domain altogether. “The law comes in, along with the power-play between rich and poor, the powerful and the powerless. When you’re in power, you can slip through loopholes in the law.

It is about being able to interpret the law to favor you even if you did something wrong. It is not a question of honesty [but ability]. It’s an entirely different level.”

Over the centuries, Filipinos have become adept at operating in two different worlds at the same time. In fact, many of us are unaware of the origins of the rules we follow and the rules we break. Before the Spaniards came, we already had our own customs, traditions and beliefs, adapted to a tribal way of life. With the coming of the Spaniards and later the Americans, the Roman law, the Catholic faith and a different form of government were imposed upon us. Our own culture was hijacked and tampered with, unlike the experience of other Asian countries whose Western colonizers merely used them as cash-cows and left their culture more or less intact. The result is a nearly schizophrenic consciousness that manifests itself as apparently inconsistent and contradictory behavior in different domains of society.

“What we lack is a recognition of ourselves as part of a nation. Instead, we still view ourselves as part of a family, community or tribe,” Miclat said.

Most of us grow up with these psychological, social and cultural beliefs deeply ingrained in us. However, certain people at certain points in history find themselves able to resist the force of internal socialization long enough in order to tell the truth.

“I don’t think there should be a fixed definition [of what a whistleblower is],” UP Political Science Prof.

Amado Mendoza, Jr said. “[A whistleblower] is just someone who knows something about wrongdoings, and he [or she] tells the proper authorities about it, with the intent that such wrongdoing be stopped or remedied, or the wrongdoers to be punished. And it can also happen in any situation, in any institution, public or private.”

Dr. Ma. Oliva Domingo of the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance stressed the need for the whistleblower to have been an insider to the situation. “Otherwise, you’re just a complainant,” she said.

In fact, the Aha! A Citizen’s Primer on Whistleblowing, developed and published by the Office of the Ombudsman and the Ehem! Aha! Anti-corruption Project initiated by Jesuit priests, describes the different roles whistleblowers can take: tipster, squealer, witness, complainant, reporter and watchdog. But generally, whistleblowers are ordinary people who have found the courage to do an extraordinary thing. Dr. Ronald Amorado of the UP Mindanao School of Management said that what sets a whistleblower apart has nothing to do with socio-economic background, regional affiliation or level of education. “Empirically, there are no differences, no correlations [between such qualities and whistle-blowing]. What matters is conditioning.” Amorado is also national coordinator of the Ehem! Aha! Anti-corruption Project.

For Corpuz Mendoza, most whistleblowers tend WHISTLEBLOWERS, p. 15

The measure of a hero

FORUM March-April 2011 15 WHISTLEBLOWERS, from p. 14 to be people who have a stronger sense of self that is detached from the notion of kapwa; their selfidentities are not as dependent on relational ties to small groups. “If you choose to blow the whistle, it’s because you’re generally concerned about the public interest. But there are also whistleblowers who are forced into it by fate,” Domingo said.

“Nobody really plans to be a whistleblower,” Amorado said, stressing that most whistleblowers were the kind who had been forced into it in order to protect their own interests and lives. “Naipit na sila. They had no choice but to take a stand.”

“I don’t believe whistleblowers must be guiltless, because [if you were guiltless] you wouldn’t know anything,” Mendoza said. “A more effective whistleblower is the one who is involved. And I don’t care about the motivation. There are processes that will separate and thresh these out anyway.”

Me against the world All institutions develop a culture or set of practices that might not necessarily match the words printed in their vision and mission statements.

This unspoken culture or system works to absorb newcomers into its fold, regardless of how idealistic these new recruits start out. And as with any living organism, this culture has its means of protecting itself from those who would seek to harm it.

An example of this, Mendoza said, is an alleged practice in certain government agencies: “At your first day at work, you open your drawer and find money in it. That’s your first test. If you accept this money, you will have no moral authority. If you complain or reject the money, you are regarded as a poor team player and will be harassed until you can’t take it anymore and resign. If they cannot drive you away, babakuran ka, so that when you blow the whistle, you won’t have enough information to build a case.”

There are other ways an institution can work to suppress a whistleblower, including harassment, social ostracism, stonewalling your career, destroying your reputation and character and so on. Whistleblowers can also be put on trial and transformed from accusers into the accused.

“In our culture, nakikisama tayo,” Domingo said.

“You protect the members of your clan to the point of defending even wrongdoing. So when you turn against the clan—when you blow the whistle—it’s out of sync with the culture. It runs counter to what we normally expect of pakikisama. You betrayed your clan, you’re a traitor to your institution. They call you ingrata, which is what they are calling Heidi Mendoza. Wala kang utang na loob. ‘Who do you think you are? You are involved in this just as much as we are.’”

Casting aspersions upon his or her motivations and character is also a way to stymie a whistleblower.

“Most of the whistleblowers were part of the conspiracy, so the public will say, ‘He [or she] is

just bitter because he [or she] didn’t get a big enough cut’, or ‘he [or she is] kissing up to authorities’ or ‘he [or she] is politically motivated’,” Amorado said. Jun Lozada and Rabusa are examples of whistleblowers who have been treated this way, although Amorado stressed that both eventually earned the trust and respect of the public.

There are a myriad ways for a powerful group or institution to protect itself. And the higher the stakes, the greater is the danger for a whistleblower.

“They will tell you, ‘ayusin muna natin sa loob.’

You can be sanctioned and muffled within the system,” Domingo said, recalling as an example former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s executive order that required any member of her Cabinet to seek permission before testifying in an ongoing trial.

“You can be killed. Not only you, even your family,” Mendoza said. “For a whistleblower, all the consequences, all the odds are against you.

And our institutions are corrupted, which is why the default behavior of the whistleblower is to go to the media. So even within your institutions you don’t know who to trust or who is involved or not.

And usually, the whistleblower is one lonely person.

Look at the opponent he or she is facing. Imagine the odds against him or her.”

A community of truth-tellers Given the impossible odds, the immense risks and the fact that there can be no turning back, whistleblowers must be regarded as heroes. But hopefully, not lone heroes, not if groups such as the Ehem! Aha! Anti-corruption Project have anything to do with it.

“It’s sad that all these whistleblowers were forced to act on their own. A group…should do the whistle-blowing...We need to strengthen the citizen watchdogs, the anti-corruption groups,” Amorado said. Giving whistleblowers the critical support system will increase the chances of a whistleblower surviving his or her ordeal, and will encourage more people to blow the whistle on misdeeds in their institutions. Amorado also recommended, among others, the strengthening of citizens’ ombudsman; expanding the space for accountability among the constitutional commissions; and separating graft prevention and prosecution. In other words, Amorado stressed the need for strengthening horizontal accountability among institutions.

Given their crucial role as the whistleblower’s refuge and medium, the media must also be aware of their responsibility in ensuring that the whistleblower’s story is presented as truthfully as possible. “The media have to be responsible—to be accurate, factual and to do their research and be conscientious in their work,” Domingo said.

The collective efforts of whistleblowers have highlighted the need for policies to protect and encourage whistle-blowing among institutions. For example, Amorado said that private corporations

have begun developing policies for whistleblowing.

There is also an equivalent move in government in the form of Senate Bill No. 3533, also known as the “Whistleblower Protection Act of 2009.”

Unfortunately, the bill has not been given priority by the past and current administrations.

By and large, whistleblowers undertake the often discouraging and always dangerous task of revealing the truth because of a desire to change things. However, according to Mendoza, their efforts are not enough. “[Whistleblowers] are necessary but not sufficient. The entire system must work” in order to effect change.

“It’s what you do with the message of the whistleblower once it’s out there,” Domingo said.

“It’s what Congress or the relevant institution will do with the information. That’s why we have to grow as citizens. Why should we vote for these [leaders] again if they won’t do anything about the information [given by whistleblowers]?” She said that a mechanism should be found in institutions that would, from the beginning, prevent the kind of anomalies that would otherwise require a whistleblower to bring to light.

“I hope we will not go to the extent of expecting whistleblowers to be the ones to stamp out these anomalies. [Preventing these anomalies] will just become a matter of course. The emphasis is public interest. When that is inculcated in a public servant, we won’t need whistleblowers anymore. We won’t need people to be heroes.”

Ensuring the highest level of transparency among institutions would also require the highest level of participation of every stakeholder involved.

According to Mendoza, all transactions have an intrinsic opacity that can give rise to corruption.

Complete transparency in all transactions is simply not feasible. “[However], when necessary [these transactions] must be transparent because transparency will prevent wrongdoing. It’s a [matter of] prioritization.” The bigger transactions require the greater level of transparency. “Transparency is a political struggle,” he said. “You have to keep digging [for the truth], because it is in the interest of the wrongdoers to keep it hidden.”

Amorado said that the intrinsically flawed system of governance encourages a culture of impunity of corruption to flourish. “That includes everything—the wrong cultural values, the political system, the weak justice system that does not result in convictions.” He stressed the need for a truthtelling culture wherein everyone would be willing to tell the truth, to act on the truth and to take a stand for the truth, as well as a culture that would support whistleblowers and the act of whistle-blowing. This means that each stakeholder, from the media to the Church to civil organizations to individuals, would do their part to protect and support whistleblowers.

“As of now, there are no groups in this country ready to [act the part of whistleblowers], so whistleblowers must still act as individuals.”

WHISTLEBLOWERS, p. 19

Right to left: UPMin School of Management Professor Ronald Amorado, UP-NCPAG Professor Ma. Oliva Domingo, UP Political Science Prof. Amado Mendoza, Jr.

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FORUM March-April 2011 of accountability in governance, ensure the protection of those who report cases of corruption and penalize those involved.

New media, Mendoza said, are useful if they are used for good. Instead of fearing those who use social networking sites and blogs, the government should learn to appreciate the significant role these could play in ensuring transparency and accountability in government offices. The fear of social networks, she said, is usually present in a country where the government does not understand new media or if it has something to hide. “If the government is more transparent, then the people would be more participative,” she said.

In the Tunisian and Egyptian experience, Mendoza said that activism shifted to the virtual world because it was a venue for expression which had almost no restraints and was weakly monitored.

She said that the Internet became a venue for free expression, allowing those who demand more freedom to express themselves without fear of arrest or even execution.

But the use of social networks for protests actions goes beyond Egypt and Tunisia (or even Libya, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as of this writing).

In “Social Media vs the Dictator”8 on FORA.tv, New York University New Media Professor Clay Shirky said that new media were used by youth groups in Belarus in the struggle for civil liberties against the Lukashenko government. Since public assemblies were banned, the protesters coordinated mobilizations with the use of social networking sites and blogs.

In a gathering in Minsk’s October Square, the protesters organized a flash mob where they

New media as transparency tools

By KIM Quilinguing

L

ast January, mass actions in Tunisia and Egypt hogged the headlines of international news organizations as protests against authoritarian regimes in these countries raged. While the government controlled the old media (print and broadcast) in these countries, they did not have much control over the new media platforms with which many of the youthful protesters were relatively adept.

According to new media pioneer Dr. Lev Manovich, “The popular definition of new media identifies it with the use of a computer for distribution and exhibition, rather than with production.”1 Any text, video, picture, he said, sent to and distributed on the Internet with the use of any electronic device, may be considered new media. Social networks, on the other hand, are services on the Internet which allow a person to build networks, nurture relationships and share media. Social network services like Facebook, Twitter and blogs form part of social media networks.2 With the use of new media, particularly through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, protesters in Egypt and Tunisia coordinated mobilizations and protest actions. Video and photo sharing sites like YouTube and Twitpic3, were used to upload footage and pictures of what was happening on the ground. A protester was even quoted by Dr. Philip Howard of the University of Washington as saying that they used “Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate and YouTube to tell the world.”4 In the Philippines, the May 2010 elections saw the political parties’ maximization of new media.

They established Facebook and Twitter accounts for their candidates to get supporters and mobilize them for meetings and rallies. Then Liberal Party presidential candidate Benigno Aquino III (who eventually won the presidential race) had over 1.8 million fans5 in his Facebook page while Nacionalista Party standard bearer Manny Villar had more than 1.5 million Facebook fans.6 Lakas-Kampi party standard bearer Gibo Teodoro trailed behind with

over 0.5 million.7 While political parties used new media to try to win votes, media organizations like ABS-CBN used social networks for issues and concerns which confronted the electorate. The broadcast company’s Boto Mo Ipatrol Mo (BMPM, later renamed Bayan Mo Ipatrol Mo) maximized new media for reports on irregularities in government offices before, during and after the elections. According to Arlene Burgos, the program’s former head, BMPM started in 2009 to get reports from ordinary citizens on election-related incidents by using their mobile phones, as well as email and social media accounts.

Although the national and local elections were BMPM’s primary concerns, Burgos said that irregularities in government offices were reported through social media by members called Boto patrollers. “People spoke openly through the social media about these concerns, and based on the reports to us, I could say that people relied on BMPM to [make public] their concerns on corruption and irregularities in government, not necessarily all pollrelated,” she said.

Despite reports of election-related and other issues sent to ABS-CBN, Burgos said that there was no instance where a case against a government official was filed due to information that was reported. In most cases, she said, they would only pressure officials into rectifying misdeeds.

While reports to broadcast companies encourage the public to report cases of irregularities in government offices, UP Open University (UPOU) Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs Maria Fe Mendoza said that the reports could only go so far without an established legal and regulatory framework.

Mendoza, who also teaches accountability in governance at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG), said that legal measures like the proposed Freedom of Information Act and the Whistleblower’s Act need to be passed to have transparency in governance.

Both bills are essential to strengthening the culture

simultaneously ate ice cream. Flash mobs are events in which groups of individuals assemble in an area to perform a common action or series of actions for a specific objective. The gathering caused the police to arrest the protesters for illegal assembly. The arrests were then documented with pictures and videos by some of the youth activists who later distributed and posted the materials online for international human rights groups and news organizations.

In many countries, flash mobs are used for product promotion; and social media, for keeping in touch with family and making new friends. But in countries with repressive regimes, the same social tools are used for political protests. Shirky said that “A big part of how these tools are used actually depend on the political context in which they are operating.”9 Aside from youth groups, Shirky also said that “social media have become a fact of life for civil society worldwide, involving many actors—regular citizens, activists, nongovernmental organizations, telecommunications firms, software providers, governments.”10 As a result, several governments over the past few years devoted some of their resources in studying and harnessing the potentials of new media. In countries like the United States and the Philippines, the government makes use of social media to engage the public and promote greater transparency in governance. Both the Obama and the Aquino administrations have established social media accounts which allow online users to communicate more conveniently with administration officials.

But for those who have lengthy views on government and revelations of suspicious government transactions, blogs have become the favored form of new media. In a study on political blogs in the Philippines conducted by researcher Grace Mirandilla-Santos, she said that aside from blogging to keep track of their thoughts, many people blog to inform those in their network of an event, to serve as political watchdogs and to give calls to action.11 NEW MEDIA, p. 17

FORUM March-April 2011 17 NEW MEDIA, from p. 16 Santos, however, said that there is no accurate way of quantifying the effects blogs have on mass actions.

In the run-up to the May 2010 elections, cyberspace was used to leak damaging information on leading political contenders. Some of the exposés were based on facts, while others were mere smear campaigns. President Aquino himself was accused of being mentally incapable of leading the country, an accusation later refuted by journalist Raissa Robles in her blog.12 Senator Manuel Villar’s campaign was also derailed after revelations on his claim of coming from humble beginnings and the pitiful death of his brother were challenged by columnist Willy Esposo both in his newspaper column and in his website.13 Esposo’s article was also re-posted in several blogs.

Leaking vital information through the new media has become an advocacy for groups calling for transparency. Since 2006, Internet-based groups like WikiLeaks have gathered and published sensitive information on governments and private corporations. WikiLeaks caught the public’s eye after it leaked a video in April 2010 where US helicopters were shown to have attacked Iraqi civilians.14 In October 2010, WikiLeaks released documents on the war in Iraq.15 A month later, the organization started leaking the US State Department’s diplomatic cables.16 Since then, WikiLeaks has been praised by transparency organizations while governments have viewed it with distrust.

The popularity of WikiLeaks and the accessibility of new media have resulted in the creation of similar Internet-based organizations which encourage reports on illegal government transactions. In the Philippines, organizations such as PinoyLeaks have started collecting and leaking information.

The organization promises “to fight corruption and poverty by means of exposing evidence of wrongdoing on the Internet,”17 as well as “to provide a secure, safe and efficient mechanism for concerned citizens to leak evidence of corruption, without fear of repercussions.”18 While the effect of PinoyLeaks on transparency and accountability in Philippine governance remains to be seen, its presence is proof enough of Shirky’s view of a future where “the communications landscape gets denser, more complex, and more participatory, the networked population is gaining greater access to information, more opportunities to engage in public speech, and an enhanced ability to undertake collective action.”19 Although originally conceived to promote content beyond traditional and analog networks, the new media has evolved from being a means to communicate with family and friends to one which brings about accountability in government and change in society.

The recent events in North Africa and the Middle East;

BUILDING UP'S CAPACITY, from p. 12 Unions Congress (NTUC) are practically managing the most strategic sectors of the island-nation’s economy. Union leaders are generally accepted as directors in many Japanese companies, to the degree that very peaceful and harmonious labormanagement relations have become too suspicious.

There are also many companies in South Africa and Taiwan with union directors. In China and Vietnam, new laws provided for union leaders to have both positive and veto power over business policies at enterprise and industry levels, to promote national industries, domestic capital accumulation, ensure higher living standards and protect the interests of the workers, as well as the economic security of the nation to reduce dependence on foreign investment and multinational capital.

There is a rich variety of theories and practices in governance for the reference of UP officials and leaders of organized sectors. The task ahead is to develop the most appropriate practice which could bring the desired results toward transparency and

the exposés on the actions of the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan; and the continuing revelations on US diplomatic activities in several countries are proof of the capabilities and potentials of new media.

In this context, new media therefore become essential in creating and ensuring more transparent governments, not to mention more vigilant and active citizens.

-------------------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph SOURCES:

1 Lev Manovich, The Language of New Media, accessed March 3, 2011. http://www.manovich.net/LNM/Manovich.pdf.

2 "Social Network, definition," PCMag.com, accessed March 3, 2011, http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/ 0,2542,t=social+network&i=55313,00.asp.

3 Neal Ungeleider, "Massive Egyptian Protests Powered

by YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Twitpic.," Fast Company, January 25, 2011, accessed February 23, 2011, http:// www.fastcompany.com/1720692/egypt-protests-mubaraktwitter-youtube-facebook-twitpic.

4 Philip N. Howard, "The Cascading Effect of the Arab Spring," Miller-McCune (February 23, 2011), accessed February 23, 2011, http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/ the-cascading-effects-of-the-arab-spring-28575/.

5 Noynoy Aquino, accessed February 24, 2011, http://www. facebook.com/ presidentnoy?sk=wall.

6 Manny Villar, accessed February 24, 2011, http://www. facebook.com/mannyvillar.

7 Gilbert “Gibo”Teodoro, Jr., accessed February 24, 2011, http://www.facebook.com/giboteodoro.

8 Clay Shirky, "Social Media vs the Dictator," ForaTV, accessed February 17, 2011, http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=eminoAME8GE. 9 Ibid.

10 Clay Shirky, "The Political Power of Social Media," Foreign Affairs (January/February 2011), accessed February 17, 2011, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67038/clayshirky/the-political-power-of-social-media.

11 Mary Grace Mirandilla-Santos, "A-List Filipino Political Bloggers and Their Readers: Who they are, why they access blogs, and how they perceive and participate in politics", accessed March 3, 2011, ttp://www.scribd. com/doc/49764715/A-List-Filipino-Political-BloggersReaders-Mirandilla-Feb-2011.

12 Raissa Robles, "Is Senator Noynoy Really 'Abnoy'? Here’s what his psychiatrist-classmate told me," Raissarobles. com: Inside Philippine Politics and Beyond, April 29, 2010, accessed March 4, 2011, http://raissarobles. com/2010/04/29/is-senator-noynoy-aquino-really-abnoylheres-what-his-psychiatrist-schoolmate-shared-with-meabout-noynoys-mental-state/.

13 William Esposo, "How Manny Villar lied and used the death of his brother Danny," The Philippine Star, March 28, 2010, accessed March 4, 2011, http://www. chairwrecker.com/column.php?col=697.

14 Noam Cohen and Brian Stelter, "Iraq Video brings Notice to a Web Site," The New York Times, April 6, 2010, accessed March 1, 2011, http://www.nytimes. com/2010/04/07/world/07wikileaks.html?_r=1.

15 "War Logs, Iraq and Afghan War Logs Explorer WarLogs," Wikileaks.org, accessed March 1, 2011, http://213.251.145.96/.

16 "Secret US Embassy Cables," Cable Viewer , accessed March 1, 2011, http://213.251.145.96/cablegate.html.

17 "Philippine Version of Wikileaks Launches on Rizal Day," Pinoyleaks.org, accessed March 1, 2011, http://www. pinoyleaks.org/pr-101229.

18 Ibid.

19 Clay Shirky, "The Political Power of Social Media," Foreign Affairs (January/February 2011), accessed February 17, 2011. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67038/clayshirky/the-political-power-of-social-media.

accountability in academic governance.

--------------------Dr. Maragtas S.V. Amante is a professor at the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations (SOLAIR) and the vice-president for administration of the UP System. Email him at maragtas2001@yahoo.com.

NOTES:

1 Alfredo E. Pascual, “Remaking a Great University: UP in the 21st Century: A Vision Statement for the University of the Philippines”, Presentation for the search process, UP President posted in the UP website August 2010, accessed October 30, 2010, http://advisory.upm.edu.ph/sites/default/ files/Mr.% 20AEPascual_Vision_Paper.pdf.

2 Ibid., p. 6.

3 This was during the same period that the Philippine national hero Jose Rizal became a habitue in the libraries and museums of London.

4 In Germany, business laws provide that half of the board of directors must be elected by the shareholders, and the other half by the workers.

5 Please see the dedicated website on “Worker participation in Europe," accessed March 20, 2011, http://www.workerparticipation.eu/EU-Framework-for-I-C-P/Information-andConsultation/Framework-Directive-2002-14-EC/Generalframework-for-informing-and-consulting-employeesDirective-2002-14-EC.

Internet’s (still) limited reach in the Philippines

T

he bad news is that Internet reach is still limited in the Philippines. The good news is that Internet presence is growing.

According to Internet World Stats, only 29.7 percent of the country’s population is actively on the information super highway.1 Nevertheless, Internet presence in the Philippines grew by 1,385 percent from 2000 to 2010. In 2009, the country ranked as the 6th in Asia with the most number of Internet users, next only to Indonesia and South Korea.2 As regards social media, Filipinos ranked fifth with the highest number of Facebook users in the world, with over 22,651,600 users.3 According to Socialbakers.com, there was an increase of 41 percent of Facebook users in the Philippines.4 In a report released by Nielsen Media Research in March 2011, survey results showed that Internet use in the Philippines increased by 10 percent last year, with the country’s online community being considered as one of the fastest in the Asia-Pacific Region.5 Accessing the Internet has also shifted from the Internet cafes to houses, with more users having their own Internet connections.

Despite the growth in the number of Internet users in the country, TV is still king (or queen) of all media6 in the Philippines. The Nielsen study found that the average Filipino household still watched television programs for 7.7 hours every day. While the time spent was 24 minutes less compared to the 8.1 hours per day spent in 2008, the number of television sets sold in the country has grown by four percent.

SOURCES:

1 "Asia Internet Usage and Population," Internet World Stats, accessed March 21, 2011, http://www. internetworldstats.com/stats3.htm.

2 Ibid.

3 Facebook Statistics by Country," Socialbakers.com, accessed March 21, 2011, http://www.socialbakers. com/facebook-statistics/.

4 "The Rise of Asia and Africa on Facebook: Statistics

by Continent," Socialbakers.com, accessed March 21, 2011, http://www.socialbakers.com/blog/116the-rise-of-asia-and-africa-on-facebook-statisticsby-continent/.

5 "Filipinos still glued to the tube, Nielsen survey says," Asia News Network, accessed March 21, 2011, http:// old.ph.news.yahoo.com/ann/20110311/tph-filipinosstill-glued-to-the-tube-ni-fb8bb4f.html.

6 Ibid.

18

FORUM March-April 2011

Watching over corruption: Social Watch Philippines

By Camille de la Rosa

W

e immediately need to find the Filipino solution to graft and corruption from the new breed of government workers,” former National Treasurer Leonor Magtolis Briones stressed in a recent forum.

Briones is currently lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines (SWP) and a professor at the UP National College for Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG).

Together with whistleblowers Jose de Venecia III and Heidi Mendoza, Briones called on President Benigno Aquino III and other government officials to intensify the fight against corruption during the “After the Exposés, Now What?” forum held last March 1 at the NCPAG Assembly Hall.

“We need out-of-the-box initiatives, solutions and alternative strategies,” de Venecia said. For her part, Mendoza argued that “We want to teach the middle-level government bureaucrats or new entrants to government what to do when an ‘offer’ or ‘proposal’ is made to them.”

Mendoza mentioned the P303 million allegedly used by some military officials to travel and purchase property around the world. De Venecia, on the other hand, exposed the anomalous loan involving the previous administration and the Zhing Xing Telecommunications Equipment Inc. (ZTE).

“The future public servants—the new breed of government workers—will play key roles in fighting corruption, which is getting worse every year,” Briones said.

Established to expose dishonesty, fraud and corrupt practices in the government, SWP played a leading role in the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI) which exposed the P140 billion impounded funds in 2008 for social development and the impounded funds for health, education, agriculture and environment in the 2009 budget.

“The budget has to be restored to the people.

The budget should benefit the people,” Briones stressed.

SWP, ABI and the Millennium Development Goals “Since the introduction of organized government from the time of the Spaniards to the present, corruption has been a persistent problem in the Philippines,” Briones said.

Despite the announced efforts of previous administrations to curb corruption, corruption has persisted. Corruption comes in many forms like accepting bribes, misuse of power, money laundering and embezzlement.

Defeating a multi-faceted enemy, according to Briones, requires a multi-faceted solution that involves citizens, accountability and alternative measures. This is where the ABI comes in.

According to Alternative Budget Initiative: Three Year Experience published in 2010, ABI involves a partnership between progressive legislators and over 60 civil society organizations working on education, health, agriculture and environment.

In 2006, the SWP went into partnership with progressive legislators from the House of Representatives and the Senate to increase available allocations for selected Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in what is now known as the ABI. Social watchers also moved for an alternative budget integrating the social development proposals of different civil society organizations.

In the report Winning the Numbers, Losing

Social Watch Philippines lead convenor Leonor M. Briones

the War published in 2010, Briones said, “Poverty remains intractable; education statistics are deteriorating and the goals for maternal mortality are at risk.”

To generate more resources for the MDGs, Briones recommended improving tax collection efficiency; rationalizing the incentives system; ensuring that government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) remit the dividends due to the government and regulating the salaries and other forms of compensation of their employees; accelerating the recovery of ill-gotten wealth from different officials; reviewing “invisible budget” items; and tapping the Global Climate Change Fund (GCCF).

“More than allocating budget for MDG-related policies and programs, accountability should ensure that the allocated budget gets to their intended recipients,” Briones said.

The public finance cycle The key to understanding the role of the ABI and the SWP is understanding the public finance cycle which Briones explained in her essay “The Challenge,” which was first published in the Alternative Budget Initiative: Three Year Experience.

The cycle has five stages: 1. Formulation of fiscal policy. This involves decisions on the mix of policies on taxes and other revenues, allocation of resources and budgeting, borrowing and accountability.

2. Taxation and other revenues. People participation in taxation and revenue issues is largely focused on the passage of revenue laws. It is assumed that laws passed by Congress reflect people’s preferences since legislators are supposed to represent them.

This is not necessarily so since legislators often represent their own personal and class interests.

3. Budgeting and expenditure. The budget process covers budget preparation which is the responsibility of the executive branch, budget legislation which is the responsibility of both houses of Congress, budget implementation which is within the jurisdiction of the executive branch and budget accountability which is reported by the Commission on Audit (COA).

4. Borrowing. It is a law in economics that resources are never enough for people’s wants.This is particularly true in the case of developing countries. Decisions on borrowing—why borrow, from whom to borrow, under what terms to borrow, who benefits from borrowing and accountability

for borrowing are questions too important to be left to the technocrats only.

5. Accountability. It distills the essence of what it is all about. Accountability is to the people who pay the costs, bear the burdens and hopefully benefit from government services.

Citizens’ participation “It is not enough that we sit and talk about these things,” Briones said, adding that citizens should become involved by taking advantage of the mechanisms available to them. They may join civil society groups in lobbying for certain causes. They may act on their own or collaborate with media or work with other professionals in organizations like Social Watch. They can use different networks to get in touch with their representatives or different agencies. The Department of Finance, for example, set up Pera ng Bayan, an online feedback system on the performance of civil servants where people can send information relevant to graft, improper action, negligence, lavish lifestyle and other illegal practices.

Another example of an ongoing online project to promote transparency and accountability is “The Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project,” a joint undertaking of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Center for Community Journalism and Development, Mindanao News and Information Cooperative Center (MindaNews) and National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

The website Pera Natin Ito, on the other hand, encourages people to share their views about corruption in Philippine government through a clean and intelligent discussion. According to the website, the project “is built on the belief that corruption in public life will only ever be reduced when ordinary people are able to understand, monitor and ultimately have a say on where and how public money is spent.”

Roadblock to transparency One major drawback for SWP is budget tracking.

SWP may have been able to increase government allocations for social development but much relies on the power of the executive branch.

According to Briones, the President has tremendous veto powers. Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, a supporter of SWP and ABI, has re-filed his bills which he originally filed as a member of the House of Representatives to reform the budget law. Briones said that proper amendments in the budget law will go a long way in limiting corruption.

------------------------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph.

FORUM March-April 2011 19

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals

WHISTLEBLOWERS, from p. 15 Fighting the unbeatable foe

dopted by world leaders in 2000 and set to be achieved by 2015, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions: Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women Goal 4: Reduce child mortality Goal 5: Improve maternal health Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Corruption is a sickness that grips every institution at every level of society. It is only because the most massive institutions tend to manifest equally massive levels of corruption that people find it easy to blame government. However, it is becoming clear that finger-pointing will never work for as long as we remain unaware of an uncomfortable truth: That we all learn the values that enable corruption and the culture of impunity from the cradle, and we carry these to the grave, passing these on to the next generation along the way.

Indeed, both Tan and Corpuz Mendoza recommended reflecting on our child-rearing practices wherein inconsistencies in the enforcement of discipline crop up, including making meaningless threats to compel a child to behave; demonstrating questionable values by giving your child expensive gadgets that you cannot—or are not supposed to be able to—afford; tolerating the wrongdoings of the child for any reason (“she’s just a child” or “kawawa naman”); and so on. All of these teach the child that breaking rules does not always lead to negative consequences, that he or she can get away with bad behavior, and that the appearance of success, not strength of character, integrity or self-discipline, is what matters. Translate these inconsistencies, mixed signals, contradictory values and lack of consistently high enforcement of the law into a wider arena and these become our chaotic traffic system, irresponsible media, abysmal rankings in international economic development and transparency surveys and the culture of corruption and impunity in our public institutions.

Corpuz Mendoza also stressed the effect of the environment, including the physical structures and processes, upon our attitudes. After all, the fact that geographically we are a divided people living on different islands may play a part in our inability to see ourselves as a unified nation. There is a need then to highlight our common bond of being Filipino. “I think we’ve started to go that way, but we need to have a more systematic way of putting that into the socialization of our children, who are our future citizens.”

For his part, Tan said, “I can see progress. For instance, we begin to see now that the Commission on Audit is important. We have also had experience with good leaders such as Emilia Boncodin of the Department of Budget and Management and Karina David of the Civil Service Commission, and I’d like to think that UP contributed to that. But it’s not enough. We need to [remind people] that we have had good leaders, and that we’re moving toward horizontal accountability.” As an anthropologist, he also added the importance of finding Filipino words for “whistleblower,” “transparency” and “accountability.” “Words are important. We have to operationalize [transparency and accountability] in Filipino terms.”

Miclat said that real, lasting change happens in increments, and that each generation improves upon what has been established by the previous ones. In order to ensure that each generation does effect positive change, the educational system must be strengthened. In addition, it is up to UP to bring together our historically fragmented and schizophrenic attitudes and weave these into a conscious and unified foundation that would enable ethical behavior and good governance. “We need to understand [ourselves] and our society through the methods of sociology, psychology, political science, anthropology, economics—all the disciplines at our disposal,” Miclat said. “The approach will be multidisciplinal, but all the knowledge and understanding we generate through research must be oriented toward Philippine Studies, and must reflect our own political, economic, social and cultural truths. And as always, UP must be the one to begin this task.”

-------------------------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph.

A

TRANSPARENCY, from p. 5 one gains favor—often in the form of a political appointment—through family or friendship ties instead of through merit. The padrino system is often cited as one of the major causes of graft and corruption in Philippine government.

Co said that the problem of patronage is serious, but clarified that the appointing authority is not solely to blame. “Likewise, [there is] a problem with the one soliciting the appointment. The person seeking the position puts pressure on the appointing authority. It’s a problem that cuts both ways.”

According to Co, one of the causes of this deeply ingrained system is that personal ties prevail over and interfere with what should primarily be a professional act. “We consider public office as an extension of our private relationships and our private culture. Public office becomes a domain where family, relatives, interpersonal relationships dominate and thrive.

At UP-NCPAG, we teach our students that when you are in public office or in a public position, this takes precedence over everything else. It is not an occasion for you to enrich yourself, to get more power or to appoint your relatives, friends, townmates or godchildren.”

Many Filipinos, she said, have trouble distinguishing the private from the public.

Instead, Co said that we tend to integrate the two. “It would be good to integrate [them] to a certain extent wherein the [attitude becomes]: ‘I have a deep concern for the public [interest] because I treat this as my own. I am not an owner but a steward, and as such, I will take care of the public good.’ Instead, what we’re doing is, ‘The public office is mine to use in a private way.’”

This attitude is particularly insidious, and manifests itself in many ways, from the common practice in government offices to take office supplies home for the children to use to the most brazen cases of graft and corruption. Even a cursory glance outside reveals the Filipino’s weak sense of what is public, especially compared to other countries: sidewalks get commandeered by vendors and converted into other people’s garages, public property gets destroyed or stolen and nobody makes a move to report it, and so on. This has also resulted in the marked contrast between the rule-bound, yet, efficient culture within the private sector, and the culture that has developed within public offices.

“There should be a culture developed within the public system that says, ‘This is the rule.

Let’s keep to that as much as possible.’ What happens is, in public office, [we often feel that we’re] not obliged [to obey the rules]. There’s a distortion in how we view public and private.

It’s very, very parochial in a sense, very narrow, [despite the fact that] we have a bigger stake in public office, because public office is for all of us,” Co said.

The system, she said, also plays a part in the myopic view public officials tend to take when appointed to public office. In a system

that changes its leaders every three years, the vulnerability and uncertainty certain public officials are subjected to have engendered an attitude toward leadership that is limited only to mere survival: you make the most of your chance and take as much as you can while you can. “If you had a longer term, you could make longrange plans, you would have time to execute your plans, and to see the results somehow. [As it is now], it’s a very volatile system.”

Information = truth = transparency In the end, complete transparency in the process of appointing public officials will only come from full disclosure of each step of the process. “There should be more effort in publicizing the eligibility requirements of the different offices to be filled up,” Carlota said.

“There should be wide publicity and information dissemination. [The information regarding the] process of the appointment, from what steps or procedures will be observed all the way to the last step, should be made freely available to the public, so that the public will be [given] a holistic picture of how one gets to hold public office.”

Co added that making full use of all the information technology now available will go a long way in disseminating the information to as wide an audience as possible. She stressed that UP-NCPAG’s mission to continue educating public officials in all levels of government on the concept of public interest, public service and true adherence to the public good—particularly the local governments and communities in far-flung areas whose public officials have not been versed in the laws of the land. UP-NCPAG also believes in the continuing civic education of the people, from among whom will potentially emerge elected officials with the power to appoint. Only with full awareness of and commitment to the public will public officials be able to temper the immense power to appoint and direct it toward true public interest.

As for what UP can do to promote transparency in appointing public officials, Co said, “Let’s do it. What applies to national government applies to us. We should promote meritocracy and reduce our politicking, [so that] we can say, ‘Look at UP. It is an exemplar of transparency and accountability.’”

-------------------------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph.

SOURCES: 1 Cecille Suerte Felipe, “Support pours for PNP official in promotion mess," The Philippine Star, March 25, 2008, accessed March 22, 2011, http://www.philstar. com/youngstar/ysarticle.aspx?articleId=51755&public ationSubCategoryId=63.

2 Alfred P. Dizon, “Nepotism in government," Northern Philippine Times, May 24, 2010, accessed March 23, 2011, http://www.northphiltimes.com/?p=4043.

3 Cecille Suerte Felipe, “Razon orders probe of grievances of PNP colonel who refused promotion,” The Philippine Star, March 11, 2008, accessed March 23, 2011, http:// www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=49468&public ationSubCategoryId=63.

20

FORUM March-April 2011

How Men in the Military Look at Transparency as a Tool for Governance

By Clarita R. Carlos

T

ransparency is one of the major hallmarks of democracy. The kind of liberal democracy we have chosen as the basis of our government has a fundamental principle: sovereignty resides in the people and all government power emanates from them. Following this dictum, our representatives should therefore represent the interests of the 100million Filipinos, of which one-third went to the recent polls to choose our leaders.

Transparency becomes pivotal to democracy because of the need to make our political leaders accountable to those they represent. Accountability can only come from fairly open access to information, particularly to data on the activities of our government officials. This is our basis for deciding whether or not, every 1,000 days, we should change the face of the House of Representatives; or, every 2,000 or so days, we should change the face of the Senate and that of the President of the Republic.

The ballot is the most powerful instrument of our democracy. It is pointless for us to complain against political dynasties and incompetent and corrupt leaders when, during election time, we put their names again and again on our ballots. We do not seem to realize that the power to change things is in our hands.

The failure to pass the proposed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a serious setback in our

democracy. Freedom of information is immediately linked to transparency because if we do not have access to information, and government dealings are kept under wraps or sub rosa, what is our basis for making our leaders accountable? What is our basis for recall and impeachment if ordinary Filipinos have no access to documents that will prove the stealing, cheating and plunder of our precious tax money? The passage of the proposed FOIA is, indeed, central to transparency as a requisite for democracy.

For as long as there is no significant difference between the military and the civilian ways of doing things, and for as long as there is no significant difference between the military mind and the civilian mind, we can conclude that whenever corrupt acts are perpetrated by either the military or civilians, they are just corrupt acts. Transparency, whether in civilian or military organizations, must be the fulcrum of democratic governance.

Otherwise, when transparency is not honored by either civilian or military organizations, let us not fool ourselves into believing that we can have a working democracy.

-------------------Dr. Clarita Carlos is a professor of political science at the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UP Diliman.

Email her at cenapsis@yahoo.com.

Photo taken from http://antipinoy.com/noynoy-bangit-and-insulting-the-military/

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