To Sultan Kudarat Governor Pax Ali Mangudadatu,
Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, Province of Cotabato,
Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP) Steering Committee members from the government and civil society;
Our colleagues from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Region XII, led by Director Akmad Usman and Assistant Director Libertine Cagang-Guanzon;
Our partners from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Regional Office XII;
Our commitment holders from the academe, stakeholders, and participants:
Maayong hapon, Sultan Kudarat!
Before I proceed, I would like to express our concern and solidarity with the communities affected by the recent earthquake here in Sultan Kudarat, as mentioned before by Governor Mangudadatu. Our thoughts are with the more than 11,000 families affected, and we thank our local government officials, volunteers, and responders for their swift and dedicated efforts to ensure everyone’s safety.
Ang mga ganitong pangyayari ay nagpapaalala sa atin kung gaano kahalaga ang bukas, tapat, at tumutugong pamahalaan lalo na sa panahon ng mga sakuna. Kaya mas lalong mahalaga ang pagtitipon natin ngayon, dahil layunin nating patatagin ang tiwala at pagtutulungan ng gobyerno at mga mamamayan, tungo sa mas mabilis na paghahatid ng mga serbisyo lalo na sa oras ng pangangailangan.
Today marks not only my first OGPinas! as Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), but also the first OGPinas! National Advocacy Campaign in Sultan Kudarat and for 2026. Kayo po ang napili namin dahil gusto naming dito kami mag-start sa Sultan Kudarat. Mahaba pa ang ating taon… at marami pang mapupuntahan ang OGPinas! para iparating ang adbokasiya ng bukas na pamamahala sa buong bansa.
In the first-ever OGPinas! here in Sultan Kudarat, we are excited to learn more about the open governance initiatives of the region, given that 28 LGUs of Region XII were awardees of the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) in 2024.
I am very, very proud of this, especially because the Seal of Good Local Governance is actually a product of the OGP! It was one of our commitments under the OGP in its early years that we fulfilled. And now Region XII is a shining example of an ideal open government. Mabuhay kayo, Region XII!
This is proof that not only your province—but your region, practices good, transparent, and accountable governance, reflecting the strong partnership between the local government and its people. Kaya palakpakan po ninyo ang inyong mga sarili!
Speaking before you now, not just as Budget Secretary but also as Chair of the Philippine OGP, is truly such an honor for me because as some of you may know, I served as head of the Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP) Secretariat from 2019 to 2024. We spearheaded the crafting of the very first until the present or the 6th OGP National Action Plan (NAP), wherein we collaborated with civil society to develop commitments to achieve meaningful open government reforms. Then we launched the Dagyaw Town Hall Meeting, also in 2019, with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
And in 2023, we launched the inaugural OGPinas! campaign, which has already reached 17 cities to date! So this is truly a full-circle moment for me, and I am so proud of how far we have come.
For those of you who may be experiencing OGPinas! for the first time, allow me to give you a background on our OGP journey.
The Philippines is one of only eight founding members of the OGP, which was established in 2011. In 2023, we achieved a major milestone when President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order No. 31, institutionalizing the PH-OGP as a multi-stakeholder partnership responsible for overseeing and implementing the country's commitments to the OGP and directing the PH-OGP.
From there, we launched the OGPinas! as a platform for dialogue among the national and local government, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and even State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). To date, we have brought our campaign across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao and engaged more than 4,000 Filipinos in pursuit of strengthening public participation in governance.
DBM Reforms
Recognizing that transparency is vital to building a more prosperous and inclusive nation, the government has made open governance a cornerstone of its development agenda, as reflected in no less than the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.
On our part, the DBM continues to ensure that budget data is open and accessible. Through our People’s Budget series, citizens can access simplified, easy-to-understand versions of the proposed and enacted national budgets directly on the DBM website. Pwede niyo pong puntahan ang aming DBM website, and you can find out about the budget series.
And you can be proud that today, the Philippines is the No. 1 most fiscally transparent country in Asia, according to the Open Budget Survey of the International Budget Partnership.
But we want an even more open government. That’s why we are supporting the passage of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill, previously called the Freedom of Information Bill, which has now been identified as a priority legislative measure in the 20th Congress. Once passed, it will make access to data and government policies easier not only for citizens, but also for partners in the private sector and civil society organization
We are also No. 1 in Southeast Asia in Public Participation, according to the Open Budget Survey. And in 2025, we increased this even more as we held the first-ever Economic Dialogue with CSOs, during which the insights of civil society were personally heard by the economic managers—led by then-Budget Secretary, Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) and PH-OGP Chair, BARMM's very own Amenah Pangandaman—for consideration in the setting of our macroeconomic targets.
We did not stop there. We continued to have CSO dialogues for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. And I look forward to my first Economic Dialogue with CSOs as DBCC Chair this coming OpenGov Week in May for the 2027 budget.
One of the fruits of our continuing dialogues with CSOs is that the OGP platform helped amplify their calls for Congress to open the bicameral conference committee meetings, which Congress finally did for the FY 2026 budget. Nakita niyo naman po ‘yan, nakalive sila. Kaya ngayon, bukas ang ating budget hindi lamang sa ehekutibo kundi pati na rin sa lehislatura. Masasabi po nating resulta yan ng ating Open Government Partnership.
Bukod sa bukas na budget, pinapalakas din natin ang ating procurement system, dahil dito nagsisimula ang maayos at tapat na paghahatid ng mga serbisyo ng pamahalaan sa mamamayan.
The New Government Procurement Act (NGPA)—another legacy of Sec. Mina of course, through the hard work as well of PS-DBM, GPPB, and our Legal Service—has been hailed as one of the biggest anti-corruption measures of the government as it introduced open contracting and the disclosure of beneficial ownership, among other anti-corruption measures.
Ibig sabihin po nito, malalaman na natin ang mga tunay na may-ari ng mga korporasyon na nagbi-bid para sa mga kontrata sa gobyerno. The NGPA allows us to identify the real individuals behind corporations and prevent collusion, fraud, and conflict of interest. It also fosters citizen participation, as civil society and private sector representatives can now be observers in procurement proceedings. For institutionalizing these anti-corruption measures in procurement, the Philippines won the Open Gov Challenge Award under the category of Anti-Corruption at the 2025 OGP Global Summit in Spain.
Finally, we also launched the first phase or the flood control project component of Project DIME, or the Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation. Through technology such as geo-tagging and drones, Project DIME will allow even the public not only access to information about the status of flood control projects but also to report on what they are seeing on the ground. Kapag mabuo na ito, pati po ang mga proyekto dito sa Sultan Kudarat ay makikita na namin sa DBM Central Office, pati po ng Presidente at ng bawat mamamayan dahil online po ito. Magiging instant na po ang pag-monitor natin sa mga proyektong binigyan ng pondo ng gobyerno. Kaya hinihikayat po namin kayong mag-participate at puntahan po ang ating website at puntahan ang Project DIME.
PH-OGP in the Global Stage
Now let me tell you some more about our international achievements for PH-OGP.
First of all, I am proud to share that the Philippines is now a member of the OGP Global Steering Committee. This means that we sit with just 9 other countries and 11 other CSOs to lead and promote initiatives for open government around the world. To be a world leader in open government is an honor that the Philippines does not take lightly. Hence, we must work extra hard to ensure that we practice open governance here at home.
Secondly, we hosted—for the first time—the OGP Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting (APRM) in February of last year, bringing together government leaders and civil society reformers from over 40 participating countries to talk about transparency, accountability, and public participation in our respective countries and in our region.
Third, we participated in the 2025 OGP Global Summit in Spain last October, where we won not only the Open Gov Challenge award for anti-corruption that I mentioned earlier but a total of six (6) awards for various categories. Dahil pwede ding sumali ang mga LGU, Quezon City, which became an OGP member only in 2024, won in the category of Civic Space, for their efforts to capacitate CSOs to participate in governance. Here in Mindanao, South Cotabato already joined OGP in 2018. Sana po sa mga susunod na taon, mas marami pang LGU mula sa Mindanao ang sumali sa OGP at ang Sultan Kudarat naman o South Cotabato o isang LGU mula sa Region XII o BARMM o Mindanao ang manalo ng OpenGov Challenge.
While in Spain, we hosted “Opening Classrooms, Opening Government: Transparency and Participation in Education Reform,” which showcased the Philippines’ efforts to advance transparency and public participation in education, featuring a dynamic exchange among government, civil society, and youth stakeholders.
We also conducted the side event on the “Global Launch of the Philippine Agenda for OGP Localization,” which advances OGP at the local level to strengthen our democracies and empower our communities.
We thank the DILG for institutionalizing local open governance through Memorandum Circular No. 2025-065, which mandates the integration of open government principles into LGUs' policies and programs. These include adopting anti-corruption safeguards, ensuring budget transparency through accessible financial reporting, mainstreaming disaster resilience in development plans, and advancing digitalization to improve public service delivery. Likewise, LGUs are now encouraged to foster inclusive partnerships and adopt participatory approaches in decision-making to create a more responsive and accountable local government system.
As you can see, even amidst the flood control and other corruption scandals in the news these days, through the OGP, we are taking concrete steps to end corruption, by reaching out to stakeholders such as you, by continuing to engage in meaningful dialogues, and by fulfilling our OGP commitments—and the world is taking notice.
Closing
So this 2026, let us continue to sustain our reforms and build on last year’s achievements.
We also invite you to participate in the Public Survey for the 6th National Action Plan Refresh Process, so we can all ensure that the 6th NAP remains responsive, inclusive, and grounded in the needs of our people.
And please make the most of OGPinas by actively participating—share your insights, ask questions, and engage in the discussions.
Sama-sama nating isulong ang isang bukás na Bagong Pilipinas at sama-sama din nating isigaw: OG… Pinas! (Isa pa, mas malakas! OG… Pinas!)
Maraming salamat, Sultan Kudarat!
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