By: Joy Aceron
Sectoral bodies are participatory institutions that are unique in the Philippines. The creation of sectoral bodies through laws demonstrates how Philippine institutional-legal framework values people’s participation and sectoral representation. Sectoral bodies institutionalize representation of marginalized sectors in governance, providing sectors formal access to decision-making to ensure sectoral concerns and issues are addressed. It is a mechanism for inclusion that directly addresses political disenfranchisement and inequality.
Some of the key sectoral bodies created through law are the National Youth Commission (NYC), National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) sectoral assemblies and councils, and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).
A new generation of strategies for government accountability is needed, one that fully considers entrenched, institutional obstacles to change. Vertical integration of coordinated civil society policy monitoring and advocacy is one such strategy. Engaging each stage and level of public sector actions in an integrated way can locate the causes of accountability failures, show their interconnected nature, and leverage the local, national and transnational power shifts necessary to produce sustainable institutional change.
This is an easy-to-use guide on how to implement a community based monitoring of the revenue generation for the environment of a local government unit (LGU), through the Environmental User’s Fee (EUF) using the tools and methods developed in the implementation of IGaCoS Bantay Kinaiyahan in the Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS).
Here is an easy-to-use guide on how to implement a community based monitoring of an ecotourism program of a local government unit (LGU) using the tools and methods developed in the implementation of Ambligan ang Kalibotan.
On October 4-6, 2017 in Puerto Princesa City, a number of new potential cadre recruits will undergo the G-Watch's Citizen Action for Accountability Training that the G-Watch Center is currently developing. Part of the training is the pilot run of a budget tracking of the Community Development Fund (CDF) of barangays deemed critical to be engaged by the Community-Based Sustainable Tourism (BSCT) leaders, who are the lead constituencies of G-Watch-Puerto Princesa.