Good and Corruption-Free Governance

Good Governance is on top of my advocacies. And I always believe that Government exists and functions primarily to address the needs of the poor and marginalized sector of society. As someone with grassroots beginnings, I advocate People Sovereignty: the rights of the ordinary people should be above those who are wealthy and powerful.

But this does not mean we abhor and will just leave the non-poor to themselves. The entrepreneurs among them, for example, should be adequately supported with favourable policies and programs to enable them to create jobs and lead the growth of the local economy.

The poor need the government to even just survive, hence, government processes and institutions should be able to meet their needs. Government can only justify its very existence if it succeeds in this primordial mission. To achieve this, it should make the best use of its resources. It should fight and resist corruption from taking these resources away from the ordinary people.

Our strategies to achieve this include:

1. Creation of a City Anti-Corruption Council to enlist citizens and stakeholders participation in the fight against corruption.

2. Stringent observance of legal safeguards and codes of conduct against graft and corruption in the local government.

3. Strict adherence to transparency provisions embodied in all national and local laws.

4. File cases against corrupt officers and employees and their private sector collaborators.

5. Encourage legislation for compliance-friendly regulatory processes in local government transactions.