EDITORIAL - Waiting for better regulation

While the Senate and Office of the Ombudsman are trying to unearth the truth about the pork barrel scam and Congress is expunging lump sum appropriations and unaccountable discretion over public funds from the national budget, concerned agencies should also start drawing up measures to improve regulation of non-government organizations.

Several NGOs that have operated legitimately for years in the country have bewailed being painted in the same light as the bogus organizations that were reportedly used to skim billions of pesos from the congressional pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Fund. It has not helped the NGOs’ cause that some PDAF disbursements actually went to certain legitimate organizations for laudable projects.

Agencies tasked to oversee NGOs have said there are stringent rules for vetting these organizations. The pork barrel scandal indicates two possibilities: either the agencies failed dismally in their task, or the architects of the scam were experts at going around the rules for their personal benefit.

How those stringent rules were skirted should be the subject of review and institutional strengthening. Many NGOs have been a boon to their sectors. Now that they have been hit by the fallout from the pork barrel scandal, they should welcome efforts to bring transparency and accountability to their sector, especially for the groups allowed to raise or receive public funds.

Better regulatory measures must be drawn up quickly, in consultation with representatives of NGOs and other concerned sectors. There are NGOs that have done a lot of beneficial work. Their operations cannot be crippled indefinitely by a scandal that was not of their making.