Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan is calling for an online public accountability dashboard to track the use of funds and monitor the government’s response to the impact of strong El Niño.
The senator and chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform directed his call to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. himself.
“I call on the President to direct the NDRRMC (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council), through OCD (Office of Civil Defense) and the concerned agencies, to maintain a single, coordinated El Niño action plan with named leads, measurable targets, and regular public reporting,” he said in his eight-point action plan.
The senator stressed that the government must ensure that its preparations and interventions are coordinated, results-oriented, and open to public scrutiny, particularly when public funds are involved.
“Ang gulugod ng lahat ng ito: Maayos na paggastos ng pera ng taumbayan,” he added. “Dapat malinaw sa publiko kung saan napupunta ang pondo, ano ang mga ginagawa ng gobyerno, at ano ang mga resulta ng mga hakbang na ito.”
His call to establish an online public dashboard forms part of his eight-point action plan, which also includes urging the declaration of a state of calamity or a state of imminent disaster in affected or threatened areas, as warranted under existing laws, identifying available funds, prepositioning relief supplies, providing livelihood assistance, implementing applicable price-control measures, pursuing action against hoarding and profiteering, and protecting the country’s water supply.
Last year, the senator made a similar push for the Farm-to-Market Road Watch Portal of the Department of Agriculture (DA) amid the flood control mess. The portal is an online transparency and monitoring platform developed to track FMR projects across the country.
The online dashboard for the strong El Niño response should provide timely updates on weather forecasts, damage assessments, water conditions, priority needs, funding allocations, supply inventories, and price-control advisories, among other critical information.
Pangilinan proposed reporting intervals of 24 hours, 48 hours, or weekly, depending on the urgency and nature of the information, to ensure that government agencies promptly disclose critical developments, resource requirements, and the progress of response efforts.
Beyond tracking resource availability, the system should also monitor the release and use of funds, the delivery of supplies, the number of households reached, the completion of farm and water-system interventions, the resolution of price complaints, and the filing of cases against those who violate the law.
He cited Section 8 of Republic Act No. 12287, or the Declaration of State of Imminent Disaster Act, which requires the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) to monitor areas declared under a state of imminent disaster and concerned government agencies to report on the status of declarations at the local level, Anticipatory Action Funds and utilization, and the estimated economic and social costs minimized through anticipatory interventions.
Pangilinan proposed building on these statutory reporting requirements by establishing a publicly accessible online dashboard to consolidate information on available funds, government interventions, and the results of El Niño preparedness and response efforts.
“As I have said, I will seek the updated funding and implementation reports before plenary and pursue oversight to ensure that commitments made during the budget hearing translate into assistance on the ground,” he said.
Pangilinan likewise called on the public to remain vigilant and actively monitor the use of government funds intended to address the impact of El Niño, stressing that accountability is a shared responsibility.
“Bantayan natin ang pondo at tingnan kung talagang napupunta sa mga nangangailangan ang pondong inyong pinaghirapan pagtrabahuhan. Isumbong ninyo kung may mga iregularidad na nakita. Gamitin ninyo ang mga social media accounts ninyo para magbantay at i-call out ang mga dapat managot. Pera ito ng taumbayan, kaya dapat may malinaw na resulta at may pananagutan ang gobyerno kung paano ito ginagastos,” he emphasized.