Browse Think Pieces and other opinion articles published on G-Watch as well as other websites.
Think Pieces
Keys to effective participatory audit and comments on the related proposed legislation of Pasig City
By: Joy Aceron, Government Watch (G-Watch)/ Accountability Research Center (ARC)
16 September 2025
Participatory audit is not new in the Philippines. The earliest participatory audit in the Philippines can be traced back in the early 90s, spearheaded by the Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Governance (CCAGG) formerly headed by the late great Manang Pura Sumangil.
Going Beyond Bubbles of Inspiring Stories to Transforming Power (Introductory Remarks in Accountability Research Center’s Social Organizations and Democratic Futures Learning Exchange)
By: Joy Aceron
Coachi, Colombia | 2 September 2025
Warm greetings to everyone.
I feel very excited and happy that this is finally happening. For Prof. Jonathan and I, this is 2 or 3 years in the making.
I have been in a lot of international events and this group is hands down with the strongest link to and representation of the broadest people especially from the excluded who are always talked about in international events but never truly represented. That alone makes this event a success.
Students Demanding Representation in Local Special Bodies: Opening Remarks in Multiply-Ed Local Save a Seat Workshop for NCR-Bulacan
By: Mary Loida Jean Ramos
Magandang araw po sa ating lahat.
Ang ating pagtitipon ngayon ay nagpapaalala sa atin ng isang mahalagang prinsipyo: mas nagiging makabuluhan at epektibo ang mga lokal na participatory bodies kapag aktibo ang mismong mga mamamayang direktang naaapektuhan ng kanilang mga desisyon. Walang mas nakakaunawa sa pangangailangan ng isang komunidad kundi ang mga taong nararanasan ito araw-araw.
Awakening: My Multiply-Ed Experience as a Student Accountability Frontliner
By Jasper 'Jassy' Basilio
“Awakening.”
It was a word that captured not just a personal journey, but a collective realization.
My experience as a youth volunteer-monitor of Multiply-Ed during the school monitoring process profoundly opened my eyes to the harsh truths often hidden beneath the surface of everyday school life.
A Tribute to Manang Pura
By: Glenford Leonillo*
We gather here tonight not only to mourn the loss of Manang Pura but to celebrate the remarkable life she lived—a life that left an indelible mark on the hearts of many and on the communities she served so selflessly.
Accountability education transforms society to one that creates good governance
By Joy Aceron
The Philippines has once again experienced a disaster that shows how messed up is the country’s governance and development planning. The disastrous flooding brought about by typhoon Carina and the monsoon rains proves that disaster risk reduction and management remains the least priority of the government.
Co-Constructing Accountability
Opening Remarks in the Multiply-Ed National Multisectoral Conference
Marco Polo | 7-8 August 2023
Magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat.
Thank you to all our guests for honoring us with your presence, and thank you and congratulations in advance to all who form part of the growing movement of Multiply-Ed. Ang lawak at lalim na ng ating gawain at lalo pa natin dapat itong pag-ibayuhin.
Solidarity Message during the Multiply-Ed Regional Multi-Sectoral Conference
By Mayor Vico Sotto
19 May 2023
Magandang umaga po sa ating lahat.
Napakasaya ko po ngayong umaga dahil dito po sa ating conference, at sa ating ‘ika nga ni Ms. Joy kanina, sa ating pagtatagpo ngayong umaga. Napakaganda po ng mensahe sa atin.
Synergy is the New Direction to Strengthen Public Accountability
(Opening Remarks in the Multiply-Ed NCR Regional Multisectoral Conference)
Joy Aceron
Pasig, 19 May 2023
To our partners, allies and champions in government…
To our partners in civil society and the private sector…
To my colleagues and comrades in Multiply-Ed and the core organizations that constitute its managing coalition, namely CYAN, SCAP, Bukluran UP System and G-Watch….
To the students, barangay officials, parents and other participants in this conference….
Magandang umaga. (Good morning.)
On Freedom of Information: A Message to Government
I write this piece to give an unsolicited advice and needed reminder to government offices and officials on their access to information practices. This particularly becomes crucial at this time after years of rollback in key governance reforms and threats to civic spaces, and given the need for accurate information to fight fake news in the elections and as a centerpiece agenda for the new administration to improve the responsiveness and efficiency of governance.
Make the 2022 Elections an Accountability Platform! A Statement of Government Watch (G-Watch) on the Upcoming May Polls
Make the 2022 Elections an Accountability Platform!
A Statement of Government Watch (G-Watch) on the Upcoming May Polls
Scaling Textbook Count, Youth-Led Style
Scaling Textbook Count, Youth-Led Style
Remarks in the Launching of Multiply-Ed
By: Joy Aceron
Pasig | 7 February 2022
Rollback on Participatory Reform Gains in Government Procurement?
By: Joy Aceron*
After attending the online two-day training of the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) for Civil Society Organization (CSO) observers last July 29-30, I can’t help but reflect on whether there has been a significant rollback in the participatory reforms in the country’s government procurement.
Making Elections an Accountability Platform (MEAP): Explaining the Idea
By: Joy Aceron and Francis Isaac
Introduction
One Palawan Lang: The National Significance of the Palawan Plebiscite
By Mickel Ollave and Joy Aceron* Analyzing the national significance of the recent Palawan plebiscite from an insider-outsider perspective, Mike Ollave and Joy Aceron, in this piece, contends that the Palawan plebiscite post positive implications on the country and its citizen movements. The Palawan plebiscite shows that top-down agenda initiated by the powerful can still be defeated by mostly citizen resistance below. The Palawan election proves a clean peaceful democratic electoral exercise remains feasible even amidst the pandemic. An electoral exercise can still be issue-based and an opportunity for the powerful to be held to account.
Are Sectoral Bodies Truly Empowering to Marginalized Sectors?
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).
Sustaining Reforms Amid the Pandemic?
By: Joy Aceron*
With 4.4 million households as beneficiaries, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) is the biggest social protection program of the government. Sustained across three (3) administrations (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Noynoy Aquino and Rodrigo Duterte), with its ambitious poverty reduction and participatory reform agenda withstanding three transitions, the program’s resilience is worth looking into and learning from.