This article excerpts from narratives written by Raquel Sanlucan, Rosita Pacay, and Alberto Gador regarding their experiences and insights from first using the Civil Society Satisfaction Report Card (CSRC) in 2013. The CSRC is a citizens monitoring tool administered to civil society organization (CSO) leaders where they assess their local government unit’s (LGU) performance in service delivery and governance. It was developed by CODE-NGO in 2012 and is currently being used in 44 municipalities nationwide.
Raquel, Rosita and Alberto are CSO leaders of Banaybanay, Davao Oriental.
Raquel and Rosita: Sometime in February 2013, an orientation-training workshop on the CSRC was conducted in Mati City. We were trained how to interview CSO leaders. Most of the CSO leaders we interviewed had no knowledge of some government programs and projects, visible or not, including the Full Disclosure Policy. Perhaps it is because LGU officials have been accustomed to simply planning among themselves, without consulting the people. Likewise, it has been common for CSO leaders not to be involved.
Some of the difficulties we encountered during the survey were the heavy rains; repeated visits to the respondents and rescheduling; and convincing the leaders that their participation in the interview would not be improper or dangerous. They thought the CSRC would be used for the local elections in May 2013 because we conducted it months before.
Alberto: I was interviewed by Mrs. Pacay with the Tagalog cameraman. I was really puzzled at the time of the interview. I didn’t understand the purpose of gathering those data, yet the answers I gave were facts based on my experiences. I truly disclosed the positive and negative sides of our LGU, especially on CSO-LGU relationship and transparency in governance.
Raquel and Rosita: For us in Banaybanay, the CSRC is a very useful mechanism for people to express their opinions regarding LGU program implementation and performance.
Alberto: Actually, I was not comfortable answering because some of the questions were new to my knowledge, specifically on LGU financial matters. We CSOs are not really concerned with public financial statements because we don’t know the terminologies and financial activities.
What counts for us are the services, that’s why I was very confident answering questions related to the delivery of basic services, especially projects for our barangay. Our barangay is very much blessed for, every year, we would receive almost Php2M worth of social services and projects from the provincial and municipal LGUs.
Raquel and Rosita: Six months after we conducted the CSRC, the results weren’t presented yet. We suggest that after validating the CSRC data, these should be presented immediately to the LGU or before the LGU planning cycle starts, so they can base their plans on the CSRC results, too.
Alberto: My suggestion regarding the CSRC is that it should not take so long to present the data gathered to the LGU so they can also evaluate their side and be guided in the implementation of programs, projects, and activities for the next calendar year.
Raquel and Rosita: After conducting the CSRC, some CSO leaders from different sectors have changed their perspective from hopelessness to eagerness, from non-involvement to assertiveness. The CSRC activity has given them courage. They gained additional knowledge on how to participate and to dialogue with LGUs. CSOs, especially those that have been accredited by the Sangguniang Bayan, give their comments without hesitation during the planning processes. In the past, they were afraid to anger the LGU officials, but now they are participating in debates when development of the community is concerned.
The CSRC serves as an eye opener for both LGU and CSOs to go hand in hand. Many problems would be addressed that way. We CSOs can prove that not all of us are ‘Napoleses’ (bogus NGOs put up by Janet Napoles to launder government fund). We desire to help and uplift the whole municipality as well.
Alberto: At this point I am able to understand the relevance of the CSRC, i.e. it aims to capture the LGU’s attention so it can work better, collaborate with CSOs and other stakeholders, and serve more faithfully for the common good. CSOs can act like an equilibrium for government.
(This article is based on CODE-NGO’s “Citizens’ Participation in Monitoring LGU Performance and Development Planning for Poverty Reduction” project with funding support from the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines. It is implemented in 24 municipalities in Antique, Leyte, Samar, Eastern Samar, Davao Oriental, Agusan Del Sur, and Surigao Del Sur.)