ONE HUNDRED percent compliance. Zero excuses. But does that mean zero corruption?
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has announced that all local government units (LGUs) in Western Visayas achieved full compliance with the Full Disclosure Policy (FDP) for four consecutive quarters, from the second quarter of 2025 through the first quarter of 2026.
This is commendable, certainly. But before local officials celebrate too enthusiastically, it must be emphasized that disclosing how public money is spent is not the same as proving it was spent properly.
Under the FDP, local governments must publicly disclose budgets, expenditures, procurement transactions and other financial records. That every LGU in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras and Iloilo, including Iloilo City, has complied is encouraging.
But transparency is merely the beginning of accountability, not its ultimate achievement.
A government can publish every required document and still squander millions on overpriced infrastructure, questionable contracts, poorly conceived programs or projects that deliver little public benefit. A perfectly documented transaction is not necessarily an honest one.
Consider flood control projects and drainage systems that fail during heavy rains, roads that deteriorate prematurely and public facilities that remain unfinished. Financial disclosure alone cannot establish whether taxpayers received their money’s worth.
Transparency tells taxpayers where their money went. Accountability demands proof that it was spent honestly, wisely and effectively.
The DILG must therefore look beyond compliance checklists. Are the disclosed documents accurate, accessible and understandable? Are questionable expenditures investigated? Are officials held responsible for irregularities?
What good are financial records posted on obscure bulletin boards or buried in government websites if ordinary citizens cannot scrutinize them?
Local governments must explain major expenditures, justify procurement decisions and demonstrate measurable results. Journalists, civil society organizations and taxpayers must likewise examine these disclosures and demand answers.
Without meaningful scrutiny and consequences for wrongdoing, transparency risks becoming an impressive exercise in paperwork and nothing else.
Western Visayas’ LGUs achieving universal compliance is laudable, no doubt. But genuine good governance is measured by the integrity of transactions and the actual benefits delivered to the people, and not merely by the number of financial documents posted.
One hundred percent transparency compliance is an achievement. One hundred percent accountability must be the ambition.
Taxpayers are entitled to a government that shows its receipts and more. They deserve one that can justify every peso spent.
