BEYOND BUDGET

Assalamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In last week’'s article, I proudly shared the back-to-back triumphs of the Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP): Our stellar performance in the Open Budget Survey and our country’s election to the OGP Steering Committee.

This week, let me talk about the highlights of the 2024 Open Government (Gov) Week, which we celebrated with the rest of the world from May 27-31. 

With this year’s theme: “Meet the Moment. Raise Ambition. Rise to the Challenge,” the open government community of reformers is called to take action and respond to the Open Gov Challenge to accelerate solutions in 10 key policy areas of open government: access to information; anti-corruption; civic space; climate and environment; digital governance; fiscal openness; gender and inclusion; justice; media freedom; and public participation.

As chair of the PH-OGP, I am truly proud of all our achievements in strengthening our open government movement and expanding civic space in the country.

Thus, I underscored during the Opening Program of the Open Gov Week on May 27 that we are meeting the moment whenever we maximize our engagement in government decision-making. As reformers, it is upon us to take action against the perceived ills of our society, initiate change, and mobilize our fellow citizens to do the same. I therefore highlighted the need to take advantage of the available platforms and use our voices, skills, and resources to the fullest extent.

I also expressed confidence that we will go beyond the baseline in government practice in key areas of open government, as the first thing we did when I became OGP chair was to institutionalize the PH-OGP through Executive Order No. 31. Thanks to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., we now have not only a whole-of-government but a whole-of-nation approach to governance: the Judiciary became a commitment holder in the 6th PH-OGP National Action Plan (NAP) — the country’s first-ever medium-term NAP on open government — and the members of the Senate have likewise expressed full support for our shared cause. Further, we have broadened the scope of representation in the PH-OGP Steering Committee to include the women, youth, environment and climate, and justice sectors. 

In our commitment to strengthen public participation, I happily shared that in just seven months since launching our advocacy campaign “OGPinas!”, we have already engaged 1,500 Filipinos from several provinces, cities, municipalities, and civil society organizations (CSOs) nationwide. Through this,  I believe we have raised their ambition for open government. A solid proof of this is the inclusion of four additional Local Government Units (LGUs) — Baguio City, Quezon City, Municipality of Larena, and Tagbilaran City — to the OGP Local Program, in recognition of their world-class initiatives to push for open government in their respective localities. 

At the Diplomatic Reception held on May 28, I emphasized the crucial role of the Diplomatic Corps in realizing our shared aspiration to make our nations more open, participatory, inclusive, and accountable. As you know, diplomacy is instrumental in achieving national development goals. Hence, I am positive of the Corps’ vital contribution as we pursue a genuine open government in the country.

I likewise shared that our 20-year-old Government Procurement Reform Act has finally been updated to include a public participation mechanism. The private sector and civil society will now be invited to participate in procurement proceedings, a monumental win for efficiency, transparency, accountability, and OGP.

It was also during the Diplomatic Reception that I excitedly announced that the Philippines was chosen to host the OGP Asia Pacific Regional Meeting in the first quarter of 2025. We hope to make this the most dynamic, fruitful, and memorable OGP Regional Summit. Thus, I encouraged our Diplomatic friends to give their full support for this gathering of OGP member nations in the region. 
Promoting participatory budgeting, we have established the Support and Assistance Fund to Participatory Budgeting Program which enables 75 municipalities nationwide, identified by the CSOs, to access resilient and safely managed water supply and sanitation services. I am glad to report that on May 29, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) approved the fund release documents amounting to ₱999.985 million for the implementation of the priority projects of eligible beneficiary LGUs.

On the same day, we officially launched the Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation (DIME) Project, DBM’s commitment under the PH-OGP 6th NAP designed to promote transparency, foster accountability, and build public trust. It provides real-time and accurate information through satellite images, allowing the public to take part in monitoring and evaluating infrastructure projects. Moreover, the DBM launched the OGPina-Level Up: a mini-series featuring the PH-OGP’s achievements at different levels of governance.

Our partners in open governance, such as the GoodGovPH, Presidential Communications Office, Ateneo School of Government, Caucus of Development NGO Networks, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Supreme Court, also held thematic sessions from May 29-30 to elevate the dialogue on the pressing issues laid out in the Open Gov Challenge.

Culminating the Open Gov Week, the 6th NAP commitment holders and their partner CSOs gathered for the 6th PH-OGP NAP Monitoring and Evaluation Workshop on May 31. The session served as an avenue for the exchange of good practices among commitment holders on the implementation of the action plan.

Beyond budget, we have accomplished much for open government in recent years, and I am proud of the achievements we have made. But, the work is far from over. We must continue, if not surpass, what we do; be steadfast in our pursuit of a genuine open government; and realize our vision for a Bagong Pilipinas — a nation with an open government that meets the moment, raises ambition, and rises to the challenge. Join us on this journey!

(Amenah F. Pangandaman is the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management.)