A question of legality and accountability

 

IT used to be that saying “I work for an NGO” would draw admiration, respect and a certain level of pity because everyone knew that it would have meant doing a job in a marginalized area with the marginalized sectors of society and for a marginalized pay. Over the years, as the NGO sector grew in the Philippines with aid money pouring in after the Marcos era, there later came a good number of bogus groups set up by heartless opportunists who saw the windfall of funds, supposedly to help make life better for the less fortunate, that could be had for their personal benefits. More recently, with the P10-billion pork barrel scam supposedly drained out through phony NGOs and Dagupan’s own ‘financial assistance’ scheme involving NGOs as well, there is now a tinge of notoriety in saying “I am an NGO worker”.

The term NGO is sometimes interchangeably used with civil society groups and while there are technical differences between these, their goals are generally the same: to serve where government falls short.

NGOs – as the term patently says: “non-government” – and civic groups are organizations that are supposed to help government in the delivery of services to the communities and at the same time be part-time watchdogs of government performance and be the voice of the people in airing concerns where government fails. And so there is something inordinately wrong with a city government’s policy of doling out funds to these organizations.

Now while this fundamental question on policy is being verified, there is an urgent need for the beneficiaries of the Dagupan ‘financial assistance” to liquidate what they received. The matter of accountability is as important as the question of legality. The current administration under Mayor Belen Fernandez must not simply demand the beneficiaries to account for the fund, it must be made crystal clear that failure to do so would mean they have to return the people’s money or face legal sanctions.

Let’s bring back the honor in genuine volunteerism and humanitarian work just as we continuously demand for good governance.

 

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A lunatic

 

AS of last count, the number of houses burned has reached roughly 81,000 during the Sept. 9-19 Zamboanga siege staged by MNLF forces under Nur Misuari.  The abominable burning can only be the handiwork of terrorists, who took hostage innocent civilians and used them as shield for their dastardly act of trying to occupy the City of Zamboanga under the barrel of a gun.  When government’s attempts to solve the crisis failed through diplomacy, the Aquino administration was forced to use the military solution.  As we went to press, 86 MNLF bandits are dead and about 15 government soldiers killed mostly by sniper fire.  Some 82,000 families from six barangays are packed like sardines in evacuation centers.

How can one describe a leader who will lead his men to virtual suicide by ordering them to fight a vastly superior force like the Philippine armed forces?

To call him a lunatic would be an understatement.

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