Public accountability seminar for village chiefs set Feb. 29
The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas Regional Office VI, in cooperation with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) in Iloilo City, will conduct a Public Accountability Seminar on February 29, 2008 at the CAP Auditorium, Gen. Luna Street, Iloilo City.
The participants for this month's Public Accountability Seminar are the 180 newly elected barangay captains of Iloilo City.
The half-day free seminar aims to provide the participants with knowledge about the Office of the Ombudsman – its mandate and procedures (R.A. 6770); the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (R.A. 3019); the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (R.A. 6713) and an Oplan Red-Plate Briefing.
Ombudsman-Visayas RO6 is conducting Public Accountability Seminar on a monthly basis with public officials and employees of different government agencies and Local Government Units (LGUs) in Western Visayas with the objective that participants will use the knowledge learned to make them more effective in carrying out their duties and responsibilities as public servants.
With only seven investigators and two support staff, the Ombudsman-Visayas Regional Office VI was able to discharge its duties and functions under the direct supervision and tutelage of Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Palanca-Santiago and Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio S. Apostol.
In more than a year of existence here in Iloilo City, the Regional Office was able to immediately act on requests for assistance of the public and conducted fact-finding investigation on lifestyle checks and reports received about alleged misuse of public vehicles/property or alleged irregularities in some government projects. Graft prevention activities are regularly done through series of dialogues with its resident ombudsmen, corruption prevention units and stakeholders. Series of seminars are being conducted such as the scheduled Public Accountability Seminar this February 29.
Assistant Ombudsman Virginia P. Santiago said that "the fight of the Office of the Ombudsman against graft and corruption is a Herculean task and that we need the help of the public to be vigilant and report to us any irregularities in government."
to make it's services readily available to the public, Ombudsman took the advantage of information technology where the public can now ask queries; request for assistance and report their complaints by sending an SMS message to 091788989662 (09178TXT-OMB) or by sending email to ombudsmanro6@yahoo.com. The public may also call (033) 5095644 and 5094655 or visit the Ombudsman Visayas RO6 office located at the Ground Floor of CAP Building, Gen. Luna Street, Iloilo City.