Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman (Sec. Mina) of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Chairperson of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) initiated and led the first-ever economic dialogue with civil society organizations (CSOs) to consult them on how to make the budget more responsive to the people’s needs.
Titled "Macroeconomic Insights for National Action," the dialogue held on May 21, 2025, in Quezon City was part of the activities of the Open Gov Week, a week-long activity to advocate for a transparent, accountable, and inclusive government. It was hosted by the Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP), also chaired by Sec. Mina.
“This is a first and hopefully will also become a regular consultation with CSOs,” Sec. Mina said, explaining that it was a pioneer discussion wherein the country’s Economic Team opened the doors for CSOs to directly engage with members of the DBCC in a dedicated roundtable to discuss the government’s medium-term macroeconomic and fiscal priorities.
The Budget Chief noted that in the past, CSO consultations were only done at the Regional Development Council (RDC) level and with some implementing agencies: “As PH-OGP Chair, I believe that there is great value in employing citizen engagement (with the DBCC) at this time of the budget process, before the budget hearings in Congress.”
At the dialogue, Sec. Mina presented the government’s game-changing reforms in governance, including the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA), the Public Financial Management (PFM) Reforms Roadmap 2024-2028, and the Program Convergence Budgeting (PCB), among others.
In the roundtable discussion moderated by DBM Undersecretary Margaux Salcedo, the DBCC Chairperson, along with DBM Undersecretary and Principal Economist Dr. Joselito R. Basilio and Assistant Secretary Romeo Matthew T. Balanquit, Department of Finance (DOF) Undersecretary and Chief Economist Domini SD. Velasquez, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Zeno Ronald R. Abenoja engaged with representatives from 17 CSOs.
On the part of the CSOs, Dr. Robert Siy Jr. of the Move as One Coalition lauded the DBM and Sec. Mina for convening and listening to the voice of the civil society, calling the dialogue a “breakthrough session.” He also shared the need for a more effective mass public transportation system.
Mr. Kenneth Isaiah Abante of the People’s Budget Coalition thanked the panelists “for opening this very important space” and noted that “many people actually came out in support of the President’s Budget,” which is the National Expenditure Program submitted by the President to Congress through the DBM.
The People’s Budget Coalition also recommended that the DBCC establish expenditure targets, especially for education.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hans Gabriel Empleo from the Freedom of Information (FOI) Youth Initiative and Ms. Bettina Bautista of the Makati Business Club expressed their support for the passage of the FOI Bill.
Other CSOs that participated in the dialogue include G-Watch (Government Watch), Minimal Government Thinkers, Malusog at Matalinong Bata Coalition, INCITEGov, Evidence for Education Coalition, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX), Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO), Roundtable for Inclusive Development, Commuters for Change, Action for Economic Reform, and The Asia Foundation.
