Great news! Barely a week after commemorating Open Government Week (OGW), President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. (PBBM) issued Proclamation No. 916, declaring the third week of May of every year as OGW.

In the Proclamation dated May 29, 2025, the President underscored the right of our people and organizations to effective and reasonable participation at all levels of social, political, and economic decision-making as mandated by our Constitution. This manifests the President's sincerity and determination to empower ordinary Filipinos to participate in our country’s governance processes.

In last week's article, I shared that the conduct of the OGW 2025, held from May 19 to 23, was a success in raising awareness about Open Government principles. It encouraged government agencies, civil society organizations (CSOs), and other sectors to showcase achievements, strengthen partnerships, and promote innovations aligned with the values and goals of OGP.

I am truly happy and proud of this year's observance, as we gathered diverse voices in 29 partner-led sessions, reflecting gender balance and cross-sector representation, aligned with the Open Gov Challenge policy areas. These sessions focused on local governance, youth participation, women’s empowerment and inclusivity, justice, innovation, public procurement, among others. Hence, allow me to share some highlights of the weeklong celebration.

Last week, I also mentioned in this column that our government is actively advocating for the passage of an enabling law that will uphold the people’s constitutional right to information in the 20th Congress. Thus, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), and the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) met to discuss this vital legislation, ensuring t that all the needed work are done for this legislation to pass Congressional scrutiny.

I am also pleased to note that the Development Budget Coordination Committee, which I chair, conducted the first-ever economic dialogue with representatives from 17 CSOs to discuss our medium-term macroeconomic and fiscal priorities. At this initiative, proposed by CSOs at the 2025 OGP Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting, we warmly welcomed the voices and insights of CSOs to this technical but crucial conversation, underscoring the government’s commitment to enhancing citizen engagement in the national budget process and reaffirming our shared commitment to transparency, accountability, and citizen participation.

Another major event was the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the DBM, the Department of Public Works and Highways, and the University of the Philippines Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazard (NOAH) Center, to successfully implement the Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation (DIME) Project, a unified platform for sharing information and real-time updates of project status and progress, to foster and enhance transparency, enhance disaster resilience, improve accountability, reduce the risk of project delays, and facilitate stronger stakeholder collaboration for more coordinated and effective project management.

Meanwhile, at the session, “Transparency and Beneficial Ownership in Public Procurement,” I shared that with the mandatory declaration of Beneficial Ownership Information, a groundbreaking transparency measure under the New Government Procurement Act, the DBM, Procurement Service-DBM, and the Securities and Exchange Commission entered into a Data-Sharing Agreement to facilitate the streamlined sharing of corporate information stored in the agencies' respective systems. I am thrilled that we now have an Open Data feature in our Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System, with real-time information and data about merchants, bids, awards, and contracts.

Finally, at the “Partners and Stakeholders’ Reception Night,” we, at the PH-OGP, recognized the invaluable contributions of our partners in promoting fiscal transparency, advancing procurement reforms, and enhancing access to information. They walked with us, kept us grounded, and held us accountable. And for these, we are deeply grateful. Indeed, more than a culmination, the night is a reaffirmation of our shared belief that when governance is transparent, participatory, and inclusive, it becomes truly transformative.

At the same time, I was humbled by the kind words of Makati Business Club Executive Director Rafael Ongpin, who emphasized in his speech that, “The 2025 [national] budget, which came under so much scrutiny, came under that scrutiny because it was the most open budget in Philippine history. That’s to the credit of the DBM team.”

Still, the country’s progress in open governance is because of PBBM's leadership as he provided the impetus, direction, and support that made us move steadily from commitment to action, demonstrating that open government and good governance are working principles embedded in how our government plans, spends, consults, and institutes reforms.

Beyond budget, the OGW 2025 proved that collaboration among various stakeholders can enhance transparency, accountability, and civic engagement in governance. It showcased our commitment to advancing open government initiatives. With the institutionalization of the annual observance of the OGW, through Proclamation No. 916, I am hopeful and positive that open government will further thrive, paving the way for a more participatory, inclusive, transparent, and progressive Bagong Pilipinas that we can be proud of. See you all next year!