To showcase the project proposals developed and consolidated by the citizens of Brgy 176 Bagong Silang, the i-budget.mo Project launched the Community Proposal Fiesta (CPF), held 21 July 2014, Monday, at the Barangay Hall Open Grounds. The CPF, with its festive fiesta theme, was introduced after the flag ceremony, with attendees from the purok leaders, various civil society organizations and government employees wearing bright, colorful shirts. The program, integrated into the barangay’s weekly routine, presented the IBM online-offline model and encouraged attendees to vote for the projects and programs they want spearheaded in their community. It even featured a Filipino game called ‘Hep Hep Hooray,’ involving representatives of various stakeholders, to highlight that active participation and multi-stakeholder cooperation is key in good governance.
IBM Project Manager Chad Osorio hosted the Community Proposal Fiesta kick-off.
“It was a very enjoyable experience,” he said. “The citizens are very proactive in their participation, and even government employees are also exercising their rights in voting for the projects that they want. Budgeting is a very serious topic, but who says we can’t have a little fun?”
The Community Proposal Fiesta aims to encourage and assist citizens in participating in the votation process of the i-budget.mo project, being informed as regards the details (background, objectives, scope) of the various project proposal and making intelligent decisions as regards the voting choices of projects and programs.
IBM is a participatory budgeting initiative which aims to improve the participatory budgeting processes with the use of information and communication technology (ICT) tools to assist in community mobilization and citizen involvement in identifying project prioritization. The primary purpose of IBM is to establish a participatory budgeting initiative involving the use of ICTs, with a specific focus on constructive engagement and citizen monitoring of the local government budget by creating an online platform for community feedback and government response, as well as helping strengthen offline means of citizen participation in the local budget process.
Prof. Jalton Taguibao, Learning, Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant, is unable to attend the CPF and the Votation process due to a United Nations University presentation in Tokyo, Japan. He has this to say: “I feel saddened that I won’t be able to witness firsthand the sincere drive of people to make things better for Brgy 176 through the voting process. We’ve seen this from the start of IBM. They really want to learn the tools in order to improve the quality of life in the barangay.”
Online and offline voting methods was introduced and is being facilitated throughout the Fiesta, with online stations set-up in the venue and ballots for the offline voters. The offline voting will be available from 21-24 July. The closing ceremony on 25 July, Friday, will determine the prioritized list of proposals which will be submitted to the barangay.
As of the second day of votation, 22 July 2014, Tuesday, there have been more than 265 voters at the polls.
Jay Millena, Assistant to the Executive Director of ANSA-EAP, volunteered to man the voting booth during the second day of the Project Votation.
“I think we have a good turn-out,” he said. “I think they are responsive and appreciative of the project, and it’s shown by their proactive sharing of new project ideas even at this late stage of IBM.”
i-budget.mo enjoys the continuous support not only of citizens, CSOs and government employees, but also elected local government officials. Punong Barangay Joel Bacolod and Kagawad Aida Corrales have been active supporters of the project, and the latter has even personally encouraged the Health Sector workers of the barangay to attend the IBM voting process during the public meeting held on 22 July 2014.
“This pilot sets the standards for future participatory budgeting projects,” Osorio stated. “This is the biggest barangay in the entire country, whose size rivals more than 50 cities in terms of population. It has taught us a lot of lessons in terms of partnership-building, research and implementation.”
He adds: “We really look forward to bringing our Social Accountability approach and PB initiatives to more local government units. It would be a challenge to replicate our results, and even moreso to improve them, but we’re optimistic.”
Stay tuned for more IBM activities at Caloocan City! The i-budget.mo Project is funded by Hivos through the Southeast Asia Technology and Transparency Initiative (SEATTI). For more details, check out www.ibudgetmo.org or email us at info@ibudgetmo.org.