(Continued from yesterday)
Planned development is actually a redundant term, but it is not an oxymoron because no good development will ever happen if there is no good planning. That is the reason I am always advocating good planning, and as I define it, no good planning can happen if Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are not used as part of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP).
In this connection however, it is important to distinguish between growth and development, because growth could happen without development, and that bad growth would surely happen without good development. The key therefore is to have good planning, because it is the only way to have good development.
As it is supposed to be, there is supposed to be a Municipal Development Council (MDC) that is supposed to present and propose a CLUP to the Municipal Council proper, and the presumption is that the CLUP should already be incorporated into a Municipal Development Plan (MDP).
As it is also supposed to be, Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) are supposed to be represented in the MDC, as provided for in the Local Government Code (LGC). Aside from that, the LGC also stipulates that any citizen of voting age could attend and vote in a General Assembly at the barangay level. That is relevant to this discussion, because there is also supposed to be a Barangay Development Council (BDC) that is supposed to contribute to the preparation of the MDP.
Since most SNS are now capable of allowing the uploading of video, texts and images, it is now the most ideal medium for social engagement, if only the behavior of citizens could go towards that direction. There is, however, something lacking in most SNS and that is the capability to issue tickets so that netizens would be able to see whether their complaints have already been acted upon. The other limitation of most SNS is that these are not focused on the Philippines. Fortunately, there is now a new SNS option that not only issues tickets; it is also focused on the Philippines, for the exclusive use of government agencies and private entities, including the civil society.
Aksyon Sentral ng Komunidad (ASK) was developed by a group of patriotic Filipino programmers for the sole purpose of using it as a tool for nation building.
As it was designed, ASK will issue a ticket for each and every complaint, and the tickets will remain open until these are finally acted upon. Aside from the website itself, complaints could also be received via phone calls and text messages, thus making it possible to participate even if they do not have computers or smartphones.
The key to this all, however, is to have National Government Agencies (NGAs) and Local Government Units (LGUs) that would want to engage their own constituents in an open and transparent setting, and in an interactive manner. Call it anything you like, but for me, I would call it the best tool for electronic governance that is available in the market today./PN
