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By Harvey S. Keh THE recent "Road to Nowhere" controversy that has been exposed by Senator Panfilo Lacson and broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez has again brought to light the continuing lack of transparency and accountability in our government dealings and systems. The main bone of contention in this controversy is a "double entry" of P200 million on the national budget for the extension of the C-5 road. Allegations are being hurled right now at Senate President Manny Villar that his company, which is engaged in the real estate development business has benefited from certain infrastructure appropriations and projects. Senators led by Senator Lacson and Senator Mar Roxas are now asking for an investigation to take place to ensure that the main culprits are found and charged accordingly. Allies of Senator Villar in the Senate, such as Blue Ribbon Committee Chairperson Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, have defended him saying that this is all part of trying to put down Senator Villar's bid to become President in 2010. Whether this is part of politicking for 2010 or not, this issue needs to be resolved as transparently as possible by the Senate. While we are still more than 19 months away from the May 2010 National Elections, this will be a good opportunity for us to see how our national leaders will fare in promoting greater transparency and accountability when it comes to dealing with the taxpayers' hard earned money. Let us never forget that the lack of transparency and accountability have continued to hound the present Arroyo administration as seen by Hello Garci, the Fertilizer Scam and more recently, the NBN-ZTE Deal. I am sure that everyone will agree that we do not want to elect a President who cannot be transparent and accountable to every single Filipino. For all the hoopla and hype in the Senate during the NBN-ZTE Deal investigations, it would be good to see how they deal with this situation wherein their very own Senate President is involved. I fervently hope that our senators will go beyond the usual "pa-pogi sa media" and really work hard towards getting the facts clear and holding the necessary people accountable for their actions concerning this issue. Senator Villar should be the first person to support this investigation especially if indeed he has nothing to hide. Every Filipino has the right to know how our money is being spent by our government leaders and I hope that this controversy will jolt our Senators to finally pass the much needed Freedom to Access of Information Bill that will ensure greater transparency in our government dealings. While we lament the lack of transparency in our national government, we continue to have bright spots in our local government units led by Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Government Service and Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo. Mayor Robredo is one of the few government officials in our country who has institutionalized mechanisms to ensure transparency in his governance. One of these mechanisms is the establishment of the Naga City Peoples Council (NCPC) which is composed of different Non-Government Organizations, Socio-civic organizations, Academicians and Business Groups. The NCPC is allowed to sit in and observe city council proceedings, school board deliberations and budget hearings. Aside from this, when one visits the Naga City website, one will be able to see all the results of the biddings that have been conducted and the purchases made by the city government, even the price of a paracetamol tablet in Naga can be seen at the website. We hope that many other local government leaders will emulate Mayor Robredo's practice of promoting good governance through greater transparency and accountability.