EDITORIAL - Community-driven projects

The pork barrel scandal should lead to transparency and tighter auditing of fund utilization in all three branches and levels of government, from Malacañang down to the smallest unit, the barangay.

Monitoring of fund utilization should be foremost in mind as the Department of Social Welfare and Development launched the other day a P43.9-billion program meant to ease poverty by providing development funds to poor municipalities. The DSWD is administering the National Community Driven Development Program that is funded by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, with the government providing P9.3 billion in counterpart funding.

Under the program, barangay councils will propose development projects and will compete with other villages for the necessary funding. The DSWD, with assistance from the World Bank and ADB, will assess the feasibility of the projects and monitor implementation.

Projects may include school buildings, roads and bridges, water systems, health centers and day care facilities. The project is an expansion of a World Bank-funded $100-million program launched in 2003, which financed nearly 6,000 local projects benefiting more than 1.6 million households in the poorest municipalities in 11 provinces. This time, the program will cover 58 provinces.

The success of community-based programs depends a lot on effective, non-partisan selection of projects for funding and the judicious utilization of funds. Citizen vigilance will be useful in ensuring that funds are properly utilized and project specifications are met. This kind of vigilance can be taught by the DSWD and its partner agencies. It will ensure not only the proper implementation of projects and programs but also the continued flow of assistance from the international donor community.

Studies have shown that in the past years, corruption has diverted to private accounts billions in public funds that could have been used for projects that are much needed in poor communities. With assistance from international donors, the expanded anti-poverty program can serve as a model for the proper utilization of public funds.