DBM Press Release
09 May 2023

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman called for stronger public participation, and enhanced transparency and accountability in government processes, as DBM kick starts the celebration of Open Gov Week of the Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP) from 08 to 11 May 2023 in Manila.

On the second day of the week-long celebration, Secretary Pangandaman, who also chairs the PH-OGP Steering Committee, encouraged participants to create the sixth PH-OGP National Action Plan with excellence, in line with the thrust of the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to promote transparency and accountability as cornerstones of governance.

"Let us keep in mind the infinite value of strengthened public participation, improvement of government transparency, and cementing accountability in our institutions," Secretary Pangandaman said.

"At the same time, let us also take advantage of the tools of today: as we pursue the digital transformation of the bureaucracy, let us incorporate into our plan mechanisms that will facilitate the faster release of information to the public and promote fiscal transparency," she added.

The event, themed "Co-create. Collaborate. Contribute.," focuses on continuous efforts of the government and various stakeholders to promote deeper civil society-government engagement, amplified discourses on anti-corruption, strengthened mechanisms for public accountability, and advanced technological innovations to improve public service delivery.

Participants in the Open Gov Week include PH-OGP stakeholders from the government and civil society,  members of the Steering Committee, representatives from the Independent Reporting Mechanism, government reformers, youth leaders, and civil society advocates.

At the event, Secretary Pangandaman also pointed out PH-OGP's efforts to promote open government values in governance processes.

"To reinforce our efforts and ensure that open government will truly be embedded in the government’s value system, we are also pushing for the institutionalization of the PH-OGP through an Executive Order to improve transparency and citizen participation in policy-making across all government agencies," the Budget Secretary said.

PH-OGP Head Secretariat and DBM Assistant Secretary Rolando U. Toledo led the agenda-setting discussions in the planning session for the sixth PH-OGP National Action Plan.

"The PH-OGP creation planning workshop is being conducted to discuss how to strategically approach the co-creation process of our first medium-term action plan. This is to design engagements for new and relevant government and non-government stakeholders and to discuss how we can move beyond the national action plan," Asec. Toledo said.

The Philippines is a cofounding member of OGP, a multilateral organization of reformers from government, civil society networks, businesses, and non-profits reflective of the values of access to information, public accountability, citizen participation, and leveraging technology and innovation to strengthen governance.

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