Government mulls over drones as PHL transparency agent

The government is considering .the use of drones or remote-controlled air vehicles to monitor key projects as a show of determination of the Aquino administration to assure the people that public funds are well spent, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said.

Abad said the drones are being considered to help in the government audit of projects like farm-to-market roads in far-flung areas.

Cleaning up the government is a painstaking but a necessary process for the Aquino administration,  Abad said, adding the dividend is already being felt through an environment where people speak freely about the problem of corruption.

Abad, in a presentation before the recent World Economic Forum on East Asia (WEF-EA) session on “Transparency for Growth and Inclusion,” said the raging pork-barrel controversy that involved more than 100 legislators, public officials and private individuals is an offshoot of the current administration’s determined effort to weed out corruption in the government.

President Aquino is determined to prosecute all those involved and he had ordered the Department of Justice (DoJ) to follow wherever the evidence leads and to let the ax fall where it may, Abad added.

Abad said that even he was being implicated in the scandal but he said the real challenge is for the judiciary to act expeditiously to resolve the issue.

He said transparency in the budget making process that the Aquino administration instituted provides a deterrent against irregularities in the use of government funds.

“We are also working closely with the constituency in developing a government reform agenda primarily in the budget-making process,” he said.

For instance, the procurement process at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) now requires documents on financial capability and experience of bidders such as income-tax returns before they can participate in an auction.

He said that he sees the pork-barrel controversy as a positive development for the country since “people are now aware of public finances and the budget process more than ever before.”

Abad said the government also recognizes the contribution of multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, and the open government partnership in pushing transparency in government.

“We do learn a lot from them in effectively dealing with problems on corruption,” Abad said.

With the integration of the Asean next year, Abad said exchanges of information would be important to ensure transparency at the regional level.