The Philippines drew praises for being a model of open government at the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit held in Tallin, Estonia last Sept. 6.
OGP Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Pradhan in his message at the opening plenary lauded the Philippines for expanding the OGP platform at all levels of governance and for prioritizing open government principles in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.
“Let us mobilize ministries across the whole of government, such as Brazil and Finland developing open government strategies, or the Philippines prioritizing open government across its national development plan. Let us engage parliaments and judiciaries by advancing open state,” the OGP CEO said.
The Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 in Chapter 14 entitled 'Practice Good Governanceand Improve Bureaucratic Efficiency' notes that "higher rates of civil society organizations (CSO) participation were facilitated by the Fiscal Openness Program of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Support for Local Governance Program of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the commitments made under the Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP).”
Also lauded at the OGP Global Summit was the Philippines' landmark Executive Order No. 31, s. 2003 which institutionalizes open government.
The said EO, signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on June 20, 2023, aims to ensure that open government values are integrated in government policies and programs in all branches of government.
While the Philippines is a founding member of the Open Government Partnership, established in 2011, it is only now that the OGP has been institutionalized.
The EO was initiated by Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman who is Chairman of the Philippine Open Government Partnership.
Pangandaman is determined to inculcate the values of open government into all levels and all branches of the Philippine government.
The Philippine OGP is about to embark on townhall meetings nationwide to fulfill its commitment of creating a PH-OGP National Action Plan seeking to ensure public participation in policy-making.
Over 2,000 participants from over 70 countries participated in the OGP Global Summit in Estonia.