Polangui, Albay

Description

POLANGUI, Albay – A group of citizens here has vowed to strengthen their existing action group and work closely with the Citizen Action Network for Accountability (CANA) to better engage their local government on issues linked with service delivery and transparency.

The Polangui Movement Alliance towards Action (PMATA, Inc.), a multi-sectoral group which is committed to help research and monitor on the use of public funds in their municipality, has decided to link up with CANA as one of the citizen action groups which the latter will support through training, networking, investigation and publishing of reports, and use of information technology for campaigns.

“We need to strengthen our ranks so we could better help our community understand how local governments work, and how we could help monitor,” said journalist Isaias “Super Bobby” Quinday, Jr., also a PMATA member.

PMATA and CANA met here October 24 to discuss possible ways to cooperate to improve transparency and accountability of their local government. Both also discussed the current critical issues the Polangueños face now, including lack of information on the use of funds for disaster risk reduction and management as well as taxes.

1. To consolidate and build capacities of members for the sustainable development of the Municipality.

2. To conduct research, monitoring and reporting on the use public funds by government agencies and the local government units (LGUs).

3. To increase the awareness of Polangueños about government use of public funds and generate their participation in monitoring these funds, programs and projects.