OVER 400 representatives from 165 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across the country spent August 25, National Heroes’ Day, in the Koalisyon ng Mamamayan Para sa Reporma (Kompre) National Conference and Public Launching held in Juan C. Tan Conference Rooms, Institute of Social Order, Ateneo de Manila University.
Kompre is a coalition of NGOs established to systematically assess present and future reforms of the government by virtue of the social contract established by the Aquino administration. The social contract, released in 2011, seeks to promote open governance and participatory citizenship.
“Kompre will defend the reforms gained in the last four years and push for more reform in the last two years,” said head convener and People Power Volunteers for Reform chairperson Karina Constantino-David.
The coalition carried out this said reform-assessment through workshops that evaluated policies and programs in five different clusters, namely, economic development; transformational leadership, governance and anti-corruption; human development and anti-poverty; peace and order, human services and injustice; and environment and climate change.
The outlook of the clusters largely depended on the drafting of Kompre’s unity statement. The unity statement, finalized during the conference, is an eight-point document that formally declares the coalition’s advocacy of reform institutionalization and broadening.
Kompre’s agenda
Representatives from a number of NGOs convened with the media for a briefing regarding Kompre’s agenda as cluster workshops were held simultaneously.
Included in the reforms that Kompre stressed was the recently enacted Grassroots Participatory Budgeting Process (GPBP), wherein people at the barangay level are consulted regarding government projects in their respective communities. “[For] the first time, amounts of money are set aside for people at the barangay level to plan out the projects they most need rather than people from Metro Manila telling them what [they] need,” Constantino-David said. Jose Morales of NGO Urban Poor Alliance, lauded the process, saying that it allows the keen assessment of basic sector problems through dialogue with citizens before enactment of solutions.
In the briefing, former tourism secretary and current member of the Former Senior Government Officials group Bertie Lim also said that the administration saw the approval of many game-changing policies. Among these are the K-12 educational system and the construction of a number of classrooms and education facilities.
The upholding of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) was also pointed out during the briefing. The said law, drafted following the peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in March, would grant autonomy to Bangsamoro.
However, deficiencies in a number of services, including the recent Metro Rail Transit Line 3 incident, were also pointed out. “We see that the administration can’t see these [problems] by themselves,” said Iska Dalangin of Student Council Alliance of the Philippines. “This is why Kompre, together with different sectors, [is] here to present to them what really has to be done,” she added.
Aside from programs under the administration, the conference also pushed for the continuous assessment of reforms outside President Aquino’s six-year term. One of these was agrarian reform, which had been present since Cory Aquino’s term. Agrarian reform continues to be a prevalent issue, its most recent development being the expiration of the land distribution component of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (Carper) last June.
In addition to this, Rene Cerilla, leader of farmers’ association Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka, said that they continue to hope that they will be able to utilize their 24% share from the multi-billion coconut levy funds.
On the matter of the oncoming 2016 elections, Kompre said their focus is on reforms. “There are reforms that cannot wait; 2016 elections can wait,” said Peter Perfecto of the Makati Business Club. In relation to this, Constantino-David said, “We are pro-reform.” She added that term extension and charter change were not on their agenda.
The government’s progress
After the cluster workshops, a dialogue with the cabinet secretaries was organized for the participants to receive a direct progress report from their respective sectors as well as ask their questions about reforms.
Among those who had attended were Sec. Mar Roxas from the Department of Interior and Local Government, Sec. Jun Abaya from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Sec. Arsenio Balisacan from the National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Social Welfare and Development Sec. Dinky Soliman and Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.
During the dialogue, Roxas explained the benefits of the GPBP. Improvements in transportation for the people and its role in the agricultural sector were also discussed by Abaya and Balisacan respectively.
Roxas discussed the citizens’ role in the GPBP, and stated that the people will decide where P20 billion will be spent rather than bureaucrats or other politicians. “Ito ang nagpapatunay sa isang prinsipyo na nasa sentro ng pamahalaan ni Pangulong PNoy na ang tao, kayo, ang mga boss (This is proof of the central principle of the government of President PNoy that people, you, are the boss),” Roxas explained.
Abaya outlined the DOTC’s plans for new trains and signaling systems, both of which are still being tested. Improving the transportation of products and cargo of farmers and fishermen in order to gain access to markets was also included in their agenda. “Lahat po ay ginagawa namin para mapaigi ang iyong pamumuhay at mas maging komportable (We are doing everything in order to make your lives easier and more comfortable),” Abaya explained.
Balisacan talked about the problems in the agricultural sector and its challenges of low wages and productivity beside high inflation rates. “You cannot expect to get our country to move into a sustainable development path if we don’t pay attention to agriculture,” Balisacan said in a mix of English and Filipino. Progress in the agricultural sector, he explained, will help determine the industrial competitiveness policy for the economy to sustain a higher growth level.
A joint project
Department of Social Welfare and Development Sec. Dinky Soliman asked the people to continue their dialogue with the government sectors to improve reform implementation. Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda also expressed his gratitude for the people’s progressive response: “We really appreciate the fact that you are able to tell us what to do in constructive terms.” He also said that at times, they “feel they are alone in the fight” and seeing the participants acknowledging the reforms that have been made “really brings comfort and consolation.”
Balisacan noted that the cabinet members would make the necessary efforts to engage with the general public. “We will try our best to do our own share in making sure that everybody gets to know the purpose of these reforms,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
On Kompre’s future programs, Leah Navarro, co-convener and member of the Black and White Movement, said that agreements settled in the conference were to be re-established at the regional level. “When these folks go home…they’re going to call their own conferences and [cascade] what has been agreed on here,” Navarro said. “We will become our own watchdogs,” she added.
Furthermore, they intend to make the national conference an annual, perhaps even bi-annual, event.
Updated: 4:44 PM
I attended the Kompre event and I believed in its stand and advocacy for good governance and transparency.
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