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| Photo from: www.portalestoria.net |
Laisenia Qarase, the man above, is a Fijian political figure who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. It was something that he said that inspired me to write this blog on Good Governance:
A well balanced, inclusive approach, according to certain standards and ideals, is essential for the proper governance of any country.
Throughout the years we have been longing for good governance in the Philippines that it is no longer strange to hear people talk about it at anytime and anywhere. But what do we really know about good governance? In essence, good governance includes the characteristics of accountability, consensus-oriented, participatory, transparent, follow the rule of law, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive.
It has been established that good governance is now an accepted goal by all governments in the world. There has also been a long debate in the way our country should be governed. We also have a number of political leaders and enough leadership styles to make a good comparison. Sometimes, the ideal state can be derived from combining the best and scrapping the ones that were never effective. But achieving good governance is an ideal state that remains to be perplexing. Many factors has to be to considered in the process. This step is somehow similar to the process of elimination. Good governance has eight major characteristics that assures corruption is minimized and the voices of the most vulnerable in the society are heard in decision-making.
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| image source: techno-marketer |
One characteristic I feel is very important in governance is
transparency, for it ensures that operations and enforcements are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations. In one of our Power, Ethics and Accountability (PETHAC) class, Ms. Lucy Lazo recounted her experience as Executive Director of Techincal Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) many years back that emphasized the importance of transparency in governance. The case of graft and corruption in TESDA during her time was a clear representation of lack of transparency in doing transactions. For Ms. Lazo, a streamlined process or bureaucracy means having a transparent system. Rules and regulations, steps and processes must be known by everyone to have less opportunity or window for graft and corruption. Transparency can also mean having access to important information by the people directly affected by these information. Part of access to information is making these information available in easily understandable forms and media. Through proper Information and Communication Technology (ICT) channels, another resource person in class - Mr. Willie Parayno, said that the public can be kept well informed and eventually lead them to exercise their rights as citizens in governance.
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| image source: learner lawyer's in Bangladesh |
Good governance also requires
rules of law or the fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially. This essential characteristic of good governance was reiterated by the story that Ms. Ava Cariquez shared with us also in class which described impartial enforcement of the law by her not being able to buy her way out when she was sentenced reclusion perpetua. That despite being very powerful, the rule of law prevailed and Ms. Ava, however unfortunately, paid the price of her actions. I learned from her the charity of the heart, that life is being a man and woman for others which is something most our officials need. When you start to think of the good of the public you serve, you begin to regard the rule of law with impartiality which perhaps is a first step toward good governance.
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| image source: Cassandra Security |
One cannot help think of
accountability when we speak of good governance. For Ms. Sonia Roco, accountability is the key requirement of good governance. She defined public accountability as the government fulfilling its commitments to its people. This includes being transparent in the use of public resources especially funds or what is commonly known as the Public Finance Management. Public finance management refers to the system, process and framework of collecting resources in a sufficient and appropriate manner and allocating and using these resources responsively, efficiently and effectively. (source: Affiliated Network for Social Accountability for East Asia and Pacific, 2010) Managing of funds also include monitoring whether the budget was spent according to plan or if it was allocated properly. Ms. Roco emphasized that accountability starts with spending public money efficiently. This would ensure that there is minimum wastage or theft and that the public actually benefits. The important value of accountability is trustworthiness but it can also not be implemented without transparency and the rule of law.
I learned a lot from the personal life stories and work experiences of the speakers in our PETHAC class but overall I learned that our country does not need reform, rather it needs a
process of reform. We cannot change our country over night. It will take a lot of effort to make our officials demonstrate and promote ethical standards in managing our country. It involves listening to their feelings to tell whether they are doing right or wrong. The process of reform also needs leaders who listen not only to what the people are saying but also to what they are not saying. However, in a culture that views corruption as norm, a servant leader is desired. But until we totally change the way we elect our leaders, until we remove private money from public campaigns, lying will be the actual practice of governance in this country and a major obstruction toward our goal of good governance. I guess it is high time we change
the way the cookie crumbles, don't you think?
