PGMA Clamps Down on NGOs

In another effort to upstage her idol Ferdinand Marcos, President Arroyo turns her goo-goo eyes on the NGOs, many of whom are critical of her administration. She abolished a self-regulation scheme for NGOs which entitled them to accept tax-deductible donations. Instead of the Philippine Council for NGO Certification giving the OK signal, NGOs would now have to deal with her through the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Science and Technology, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). In other words, if the NGO is critical of PGMA, these five government agencies could say that you can not get funding from accredited foundations like Coca-Cola, SM, Lopez Foundations and the like. This would weaken "local philantrophy" and make the NGOs temper their stand on her governance jsut so they can get a go-ahead. The PCNC had been established in 1998 as a self-regulating scheme and is backed by the biggest NGO consortiums. Now say goodbye to your independence, NGOs, as President GMA signed EO 671 stripping PCNC of its powers and them into her iron hand again. Or maybe the most corrupt President in recent history thought that the foundations fund her "pet" NGOs instead. PGMA should realize it was the NGOs which helped her into power.