A pleasant morning to all my fellow advocates of Open Government.
Assalamu alaikum wa Raḥmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
As the chairperson of the Philippine Open Government Partnership or the PH-OGP, I would like to thank all of you for joining us in this planning and development of our 6th PH-OGP National Action Plan.
As you know, we have had a lot of accomplishments since our establishment in 2011. In fact, five (5) national action plans consisting of 65 commitments have already been implemented—a testament to our dedication to this noble cause.
In the process, we are conducting participatory consultations and forging strong multi-sectoral partnerships to ensure that the bureaucracy is working for the people.
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.
All of our achievements took rigorous planning. And in today’s event, before we start our deliberations and exchanges for our 6th National Action Plan, I would like to emphasize the importance of your role as we seek to build a culture of transparency and public participation in governance.
As we strategize for the co-creation of our first medium-term action plan, design engagement strategies for new and relevant government and non-government stakeholders, and discuss how we can move beyond the national action plan in pursuing open government reforms, let us keep in mind the infinite value of strengthened public participation, improvement of government transparency, and cementing accountability in our institutions.
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.
Finally, let us remember that planning is not just at the onset but we must continuously plan and improve until we meet our targets and then set even higher standards for our growth.
Thus, I call on all Open Government advocates to put our hearts and minds into creating our 6th National Action Plan excellently. Let us take this opportunity to help achieve a more Open Government towards our Agenda for Prosperity.
On our end at the Department of Budget and Management, we are proud of our accomplishments on fiscal transparency. We have our Fiscal Openness (FO) Working Group which leads and monitors the country’s performance in the Open Budget Survey (OBS) conducted by the International Budget Partnership. To date, we have maintained our lead in the Southeast Asian region in providing mechanisms that allow the public to participate in the budget process.
We have also been a consistent winner in the Freedom of Information (FOI) Awards since 2017 and last year, we were recognized as one of the top requested and performing agencies in the eFOI Portal.
We have also operationalized the DBM Civil Society Organizations Desk which responds to CSOs’ requests for information and addresses their budget-related queries. And just recently, the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT) lauded the DBM, a founding member of GIFT, for remaining a prime example of fiscal transparency in Asia regardless of changes in administrations.
Congratulations to all of you who have worked hard on this. We have a lot more accomplishments to share on open governance and fiscal transparency, but we also have a lot more to do so I will not take much of your time. To all our partners and stakeholders, rest assured that we are one with you in planning, executing, monitoring, and evaluating our programs and projects that will bring the Philippines to the forefront of genuine democracy and exceptional public participation marked by multi-sectoral representation and exchanges.
Maraming salamat po sa pagiging bahagi ng ating adhikain para sa ating bansa at bawat Pilipino.
Wabillahi Tawfiq Wal Hidaya, Wasalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.
