Voting in elections, as an example, is one of the most encouraged form of participation however, civil society participation comes in many forms such as petitions, rallies, demonstrations, social media interaction, attending local assemblies, and many more.

For most engagement activities done to encourage and stimulate citizen participation, the level of such participation only reaches to non-participation to tokenism. However, if one would look into the impact of such participation, the local knowledge locals can immensely help the program. Community-based disaster risk management initiatives include the creation of hazard maps. Hazard maps are more efficiently created with the help of the residents of the area. After all, they know extensively more about the area and the risk present in such than most people. With their participation, DRR activities, plans and programs will be crafted to better accommodate their needs and answer to their perceived risks and most immediate concerns. In addition to this, the residents themselves will be made more aware of the risks and hazards that surrounds their area. CBDRRM after all aims to harness the local capacity of residents and locals in order to address risks in anticipation of hazards. As such, individuals residing in the area does not become mere receivers of information, resources and assistance but are capable of providing immediate aid and minimize existing risks. By harnessing the local knowledge, skills and inputs from the citizens, the DRRM measures for the area is expected to be more effective and needs based. The same can be said for other government initiatives.  

Participation, I would say, requires not only an existing avenue and will from both government and its constituents but also entails the responsibility to know more about the processes of the government and the underlying issues that plague the bureaucracy. Since the Philippines is said to be a democratic country, participation of the masses should be encouraged, even more so in the local government. Regardless if it is a negative feedback or not, the voice and power of the public must not be limited since as they are the backbone of this democracy. To rightly honor the right of the people to be involved and to make such participation even more efficient and productive, it is the duty of the government to provide good education to the Filipino people that is centered on improving the nation.

In the belief that public accountability can only thrive[LS1]  with the involvement of the citizens, the Commission on Audit launched the Citizen Participatory Audit. To enlist the vigilant eye of the public in monitoring government projects, this program aims to ensure accountability, transparency, and the efficient and rightful use of public resources with the involvement of the public. Participation through this program can come in the form of first-hand data gathering, user feedback, project evaluation and other auditing processes. As a student and citizen, government projects and programs are a main concern since the people’s tax are poured into these. As such, such a program from the COA can help both government and the public in ensuring that government funds were used efficiently and effectively. Ideally, this avenue for participation could have helped in project evaluation since the public can help in compare the project goals and actual project outcome.

However, it is in my opinion that to fully achieve genuine participation for the citizenry, such programs should be widely advocated and promoted and not merely shown in international reports to advertise such initiatives.

Relevant Links:

Lorenzo, M .(2019). Citizen participation in pursuit of government accountability. CPD Policy Blog. Retrieved on March 22, 2019 from https://policyblog.uni-graz.at/2018/04/citizen-participation-in-pursuit-of-government-accountability/

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