Kabisig seeks wider public awareness of government services

Daniel Guillen, Kabisig People’s Movement chairperson, explains the importance of informing the public of existing government services. /Irene R. Sino Cruz

CEBU CITY–A people’s organization is pushing for more public awareness of government services.

Daniel Guillen, chairperson of Kabisig People’s Movement (KPM), said that most Filipinos remain unaware of the many government services that they could avail of.

To promote awareness, Kabisig organized 3-leg Kabisig Philippine Government Expo. The first two Expos were held in Quezon City and Davao City. The last leg was opened at the SM City Cebu on Monday and will continue until Wednesday.

Guillen, however, expressed disappointment over the lack of participation in the Cebu leg of their expo.

Although there are around 400 government agencies and government owned and controlled corporations here, only around 10 participated in the Cebu Expo. These included the Dangerous Drugs Board, Philippine Postal Corp., Government Service Insurance Corp., Home Mutual Development Fund, Social Housing Finance Corp., Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization.

Undersecretary Earl Saavedra, DDB executive director, said that through their participation in the Expo, they would be able to inform the public  about their anti-illegal drugs program.  The Philippine Anti-Illegal Drug Strategy (PADS) provides a comprehensive and balanced approach to the country’s drug problem.

During the expo, different participants will be conducting forums to discuss various government services.

Kabisig is a non-partisan, multi-sectoral voluntary movement of concerned citizens. It was institutionalized by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 650 issued by former president Cora on Aquino on October 5, 1990. The movement aims to promote active involvement of Filipinos in participatory democracy.

P.D. 650 directs all government agencies to coordinate with and assist with KPN-National Operations Center through its director general./dcb