MMSU and the Department of the Interior and Local Government in Region 1 (DILG-1) are pushing for the establishment of a citizen’s feedback mechanism in the Municipality of Paoay, a move that will effectively gauge people’s awareness of the mandated services of this local government unit.

In a memorandum of agreement signed on July 10 between DILG Regional Director James F. Fadrilan and MMSU Officer-in-Charge Prima Fe R. Franco, the feedback tool, called the Citizen Satisfaction Index System (CSIS), will generate relevant feedback from the people of Paoay on its service delivery performance, particularly on health, support to education, social welfare, governance and response, public works and infrastructure, environmental management, and economic and investment promotion.

“The DILG-1 has tapped MMSU to extend its expertise in areas of community development for the training of people that will be involved in the CSIS implementation,” Director Fadrilan said, adding that the two agencies and their partner LGU will use CSIS results as benchmark for planning, policy formulation, decision-making, and other processes related to improvement of the town’s programs and initiatives.

For the DILG alone, CSIS results may form part of the criteria of its awards and recognition programs such as the Seal of Good Local Governance that it is implementing. CSIS results will also serve as inputs for LGU-Paoay in crafting its citizen-driven priority action plans, which will include strategies for making their services more responsive to the needs of the people.

Granting an initial amount of P100,000 for the program, the DILG has started coordinating with MMSU on the CSIS implementation requirements which will include the conduct of trainings of people involved in the program.

The CSIS is a component of the Local Governance Watch (LG Watch) that the DILG wants to establish in Paoay. In a nutshell, the LG Watch will keep local execs honest because the public can keep a close watch on the activities of local government officials.

According to Fadrilan, the LG Watch will allow civil society organizations to keep track of the performance of local executives and it will serve as a social accountability mechanism that will encourage greater civil society participation in local governance.

But the DILG said that local officials should not be threatened by the word “watch” because the goal is not to spy into the affairs of the local government, but to make civil society governments empowered, to give them the chance to be heard and participate in good governance. That is, it will put in the hands of civil society a very useful set of tools that will allow organized citizens to engage with local authorities in a more systematic and structured way in order to make them more transparent, accountable and efficient.

Aside from the CSIS, the LG Watch shall also have two other components – the Civil Society Participation Fund (CSPF), and the Capacity Development for Civil Society Organizations (CDCS).

The CSPF will involve a mechanism that provides incentives to CSOs that are actively engaging with LGUs in local development, while the CDCS will strengthen the knowledge and skills of CSOs in performing their roles as partners of government in various governance processes. (By Reynaldo E. Andres)