August 5, 2010
Washington, DC– The Board of Directors of the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has approved a $434 million compact with the Government of the Philippines to reduce poverty through economic growth. Non-governmental organizations, private sector firms, and the Philippine government and people consulted extensively to design a homegrown program to address key constraints to sustainable development. Read more »News
Unopposed and unanimoulsy endorsed by the city mayors, San Fernando City, Pampanga Mayor Oscar Rodriguez is the new League of Cities of the Philippines President. He was proclaimed during the 9th Election of National Officers last July 17, 2010, Manila.
July 15, 2010.
After more than two weeks of serving as DILG Secretary in a concurrent capacity, President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III has officially appointed a new secretary of the Department, former Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo.
Robredo took his oath of office before President Aquino last Monday in Malacañang.
From The Manila Times, Sunday, March 28, 2010
The great news is that the reforms in these six important government agencies will surely continue even after President Gloria Arroyo’s term.
Whoever becomes the next president as a result of the May 10 election will have no choice but to encourage these six government offices to go ahead with their present reform and improved governance programs.
This is because the president who moves against these reforms, who will undermine these reforms—perhaps in a bizarre fit of corrupt self-indulgence—would be embarrassed. He or she would be condemned by the business, labor, and academic sectors, as well as by nongovernment and civil-society organizations, that are the partners of these six government agencies in setting up their “Performance Governance System” goals, road maps, detailed plans and timetables.
BY LOUELLA A. DESIDERIO, REPORTER, BUSINESSWORLD
THE PRIVATE SECTOR will be monitoring the accomplishments of targets set by six government agencies under a program administered by the non-profit group Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA).
ISA Executive Director Christopher P. Zaens said the private sector shall be part of the multi-sectoral governance council that will be checking the performance of the agencies against their targets through the performance governance system (PGS) scorecards.
“The private sector will be part of the meetings with the government agencies and the ISA in the discussion of the performance of the agencies and how it can be improved,” he said in an interview.
by Rene Q. Bas, Editor in Chief, Manila Times. 21 March, 2010
The six government agencies are the Department of Education (DepEd), the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). They are all undertaking the Performance Governance System (PGS), a local adaptation of the Balanced Scorecard applied to the public sector, to track their performance against a set of goals.
They will make their performance commitments public on March 25, 2010 at the Public Governance Forum jointly convened by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), the National Competitiveness Council and the Development Academy of the Philippines.
While the forthcoming May 2010 elections are hogging the headlines, the Philippine government, through six government agencies, is silently working on urgent governance reforms that could no longer wait for the next President to be sworn into office.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue, Philippine National Police, Departments of Education, of Transportation and Communications, of Health, of Public Works and Highways have “chosen to initiate this process” after discovering “there’s unfortunately no national vision where we could align our respective vision statements.”
Cesar Bautista, former ambassador extraordinary plenipotentiary to London, said at the forum the six government units were tasked to each formulate a performance governance system (PGS).
Business Mirror, Sept. 25, 2009
“Do you know that the best watermelon in the country is produced in Bani, Pangasinan?
Bani is noted for producing the sweetest, reddest and juiciest watermelon in the country. When Anna Levy of Washington D.C., Ashley Acedillo of Institute for Solidarity and Asia and I visited Bani, Dr. Beth Navarro, Mayor Marcelo Navarro’s wife, served us the reddest, juiciest watermelon I have ever tasted. It was colorfully delicious, a delightful combination of color and sweet taste..”
Iloilo City ranks among world’s four top-performing organizations
IT was just last year when thousands of residents in this city found themselves on rooftops with a desperate cry for help after being ravaged by the worst flooding in its history. Now, Iloilo City has been earning accolades for its inspiring turnaround story. Read more »
