Good afternoon once again to all the advocates of good governance present here today. Thank you for joining us in this fourth quarter Philippine Open Government Partnership or PH-OGP Steering Committee Meeting. As we adjourn this gathering, I aim to remind us of our reasons for pursuing an open government.

The PH-OGP’s commitment to transparency, accountability, citizen engagement or public participation, and digital governance are all grounded in the overarching objective to increase public trust in the government.

We want public trust that is neither solicited nor imposed but earned through quality public service, and transparent and accountable governance.

So, how do we achieve that kind of public trust?

We could achieve this kind of public trust by integrating the power of technology in our governance. Moreover, we must introduce reforms and programs and see them through as it is only through constructive and open dialogue that we can improve together and achieve our common goal.

Lastly, we should do all these with public participation in mind. In our digitalization efforts, we should work on information dissemination and provide opportunities for exchange with the public. Of course, we want our published content—our National Action Plans included—to be understood by the people so that they know what their government is doing.

We want our every allocation, decision, and implementation to be scrutinized and even challenged by them so they know that they are involved in our decision-making.

Doing and listening—these are the two elements that create trust in a relationship. As public servants who bridge the government and the people, may we do these with willingness and excellence.

Let’s begin doing these as we work towards the institutionalization of the PH-OGP through the draft Executive Order that we have discussed today. More than setting the direction, programs, and activities of the PH-OGP, and providing oversight to the Secretariat, may the PH-OGP Steering Committee always be reminded of who we are doing these for: the Filipino people we are sworn to serve.

Assalamu alaikum. Magandang hapon po muli at mabuhay tayong lahat!