Accountability frontliners from various parts of the country have recently urged voters to turn the upcoming May elections into an “accountability process, where candidates have to be made answerable for their performance or lack thereof.”
The call was made by Government Watch (G-Watch) in a statement that was released exactly two months before the 2022 polls. An independent action research and citizen monitoring organization that is present in 12 local sites, G-Watch emphasized the need to elect officials who will “restore checks and balances in government, strengthen accountability institutions, uphold merit-based public management, and support independent civil society monitoring and advocacy.” During the COVID-19 crisis, G-Watch monitored the social amelioration program, citizen health entitlements and vaccination, noting many lapses and gaps in the response of the national government.
The G-Watch statement on the May polls was adopted after their five-day national meeting and learning exchange that was held in Pasig and Baguio City from March 4-8, 2022. Mayor Vico Sotto, a member of the G-Watch Executive Board, also attended the second day of the meeting and shared the experience of the Pasig City local government in fighting corruption.
Noting the importance of the upcoming polls, Amelia Mancera of G-Watch-Southern Leyte emphasized the need “to be more vigilant since society’s issues and concerns become amplified during election time.”
One of these pressing problems is the spread of fake news. According to G-Watch accountability frontliner Gemar Barola, “since this is becoming an era of disinformation, accountability should be taken very seriously.” He appealed to the public to “demand for transparency and accountability from those who seek for power by investing in education and fact-checking for truth and authentic news.”
Gabriel Peralta of G-Watch-Quezon City underscores that a key lesson from the country’s experience with the pandemic is that, “we need leaders who are transparent and accountable.” His colleague Maribel Sumagay shares this sentiment, stating that, “Our nation deserves a president who is accountable and transparent to its people.”
For his part, Mickel Ollave of G-Watch-Puerto Princesa sees elections as a mechanism for choosing the best leaders. “Ang eleksyon ay isang epektibong pamamaraan para pagpanagutin, palitan ang mga tiwaling lider at panatilihin ang mga lider na matitino,” he said. (Elections are effective mechanisms to hold account and change corrupt officials and keep those who deliver.)
G-Watch volunteer Jun Tingson offered a similar thought, saying that, “Election is the best time for citizens to engage in accountability, so that they can vote for the best candidates for the country.”
Noting their experience in Dumaguete, G-Watch volunteer Cindy Uy affirmed the importance of accountability in elections: “Accountability in elections creates an enabling environment where citizens freely choose leaders, ensure that development agenda are implemented, periodically monitored and corrective actions done efficiently and effectively,” she said.
Khalid Camar of G-Watch Lanao del Sur also reminded voters that, “in the coming elections, not only politicians should be made to account, citizens too, as they decide for the future of the country.”
Joy Aceron, G-Watch convener-director, says “G-Watch work is above and beyond the elections, but the electoral exercise remains a crucial accountability mechanism that can enable and advance good governance, so it has to be engaged.”
G-Watch, in its statement, offered six-point agenda for the next administration, which includes:
- Ensure access to relevant, useful and clear information.
- Pass the Freedom of Information Law.
- Bolster transparency mechanisms and efforts.
- Ensure that feedback, complaint and grievance redress mechanisms properly work so that the concerns of citizens can be adequately addressed.
- Enhance the capacity of accountability institutions, mechanisms and programs inside government.
- Ensure that the country’s legal framework remains supportive, facilitative and enabling of progressive civil society, including independent citizen accountability efforts.
Make the 2022 Elections an Accountability Platform!
A Statement of Government Watch (G-Watch) on the Upcoming May Polls
In exactly two months from now, Filipinos will once again go to the polls to elect the country’s next President, along with the Vice President, 12 senators, 316 members of the Lower House, as well as 16,055 local officials. While every election is important, the upcoming poll is both unique and extremely crucial due to the ongoing pandemic, and the continuing threats to democracy and to our people’s very survival.
The dismal performance of the national government in handling the COVID-19 crisis is going to be the backdrop of the 2022 elections. It has to be. The 2022 elections will also be critical in reaffirming many democratic values that has been under threat for the past years, such as inviolability of human rights, the rule of law, and the principle that a public office is public trust since all power emanates from the people.
The 2022 polls, in other words, has to be turned into an accountability process, where candidates have to be made answerable for their performance or lack thereof.
We call on voters to elect candidates that will restore checks and balances in government, strengthen accountability institutions, uphold merit-based public management, and support independent civil society monitoring and advocacy.
At the same time, G-Watch offers the following agenda for the next administration:
· Ensure access to relevant, useful and clear information.
· Pass the Freedom of Information Law.
· Bolster transparency mechanisms and efforts.
· Ensure that feedback, complaint and grievance redress mechanisms properly work so that the concerns of citizens can be adequately addressed.
· Enhance the capacity of accountability institutions, mechanisms and programs inside government.
· Ensure that the country’s legal framework remains supportive, facilitative and enabling of progressive civil society, including independent citizen accountability efforts.
We also call on the Philippine development community to start rebooting, retooling and re-energizing civil society-government engagement to one that synergizes interdependent power which checks abuses at the top and uplifts the most marginalized.
If all these are done, then we can turn elections to what it should be—as a way to allow even the most ordinary of citizens to speak truth to power and change the course of the country’s history.
* Passed during the 2022 G-Watch National Meeting & Learning Exchange on March 4-8 in Pasig and Baguio Cities. G-Watch is an independent action research organization embedded in constituencies of civic and advocacy-oriented organizations all over the Philippines that aims to contribute in democratic deepening through the scaling of accountability and citizen empowerment. G-Watch has local sites and partner civil society organizations and government allies in Pasig City, Quezon City, Naga, Puerto Princesa, Cebu, Bohol, Tacloban, Dumaguete, Bacolod, Southern Leyte, Lanao del Sur, Samal Island, and Agusan del Sur.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
