Zamboanga Sibugay

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IPIL, ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY – Inspired by growing calls nationwide to abolish the much-abused pork barrel, several citizens here decided to build their own citizen action group which will help more people to better understand, monitor and report on public finances where people are the last to know, like the pork barrel.

The citizens come from organizations representing teachers, students, civil society, Catholic church workers, and concerned citizens from the province and nearby Zamboanga del Sur. Backed up by the Catholic Diocese of Ipil, the citizens initially called themselves Bantay (Filipino term for watch) Sibugay and said they see the group would help people-led activities for public transparency and accountability. Bantay for them stands for ‘Be an Agent of Transparency and Accountability’.

The group took part in an earlier forum October 22 on the controversial Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) which the Diocese’s Social Action Ministry organized to help people better understand the issue and take a stand. Citizen Action Network for Accountability (CANA) Program Manager Rorie Fajardo and Fr. Jose Rapadas III were the main speakers at the forum, held at the Pastoral Center of the Diocese.

“It is time that we become active citizens because of what is happening in our country. We could do something,” said Diocesan priest Msgr. Gilbert Gente at the forum. Fr. Rapadas, meanwhile, also urged the citizens to take part in campaigns exposing the immorality of the pork barrel because it continues to perpetuate extreme poverty and inequality.

An orientation about CANA and how the people and CANA could work together followed the forum. Here, the people said they want to know and understand more on specific government budgets, for instance, funds allocated for disaster risk reduction and management, pork barrel of local government units, audit reports, and status of infrastructure projects.

Daphne Santuyo, a former journalist based here, said Bantay Sibugay should also reach out to other sectors outside the Diocese since the group should be for and with the citizens.

Berting Largo, head of the Social Action Ministry, said their office would help first help the group identify their vision and goals, and build their own action plans.

The diocese also supports an existing group for good governance called Silingan Ka. Largo says this group will most likely be a member of Bantay Sibugay, which aims to be more multi-sectoral in nature.

The group will meet again on November 6 to talk on their structure and plans.