To our colleagues from the Open Government Partnership community, a pleasant morning.

Assalamu alaikum wa Raḥmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

The Philippines is the first constitutional democracy in Asia. It was also in the Philippines that the historic People Power Revolution took place 37 years ago.

As a true testament to the Philippines’ thriving democracy, no less than our President, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said at the last People Power Anniversary (and I quote): "I am one with the nation in remembering those times of tribulation and how we came out of them united and stronger as a nation...I once again offer my hand of reconciliation to those with different political persuasions to come together as one in forging a better society—one that will pursue progress and peace and a better life for all Filipinos." I believe this is a prime example not only of political maturity and our President’s strong commitment to unity and peace but also of the true democracy that we are blessed to have in the Philippines.

According to The Economist Intelligence Unit, a London-based think tank, the 2022 Democracy Index of the Philippines was 6.73 out of 10, while a local survey conducted in the last quarter of the same year found that a record-high of 89 percent of Filipinos were satisfied with how our democracy works.

These statistics reveal that our democracy, while present, is still a work in progress. We are also happy to note that while a report from the Freedom House says that the global freedom declined worldwide for seventeen consecutive years. The Philippines, however, gained improvements for the past years.

Again, it is still a work in progress. Nevertheless, we are striving to make it the best quality of democracy we can provide for the Filipino people, given our sociopolitical context.

Revitalizing democracy and strengthening democratic institutions require constant effort, especially as we face more complex challenges in these changing times. That is why on our end, we have been working very hard to strengthen open government in the Philippines.

And I am proud to share that our hard work has begun to bear fruit. Last June 20, 2023, our President signed Executive Order (EO) No. 31, which we initiated. This is a landmark EO that—for the first time—institutionalizes the Philippine Open Government Partnership or PH-OGP. This entails the creation of a policy and decision-making multi-stakeholder forum composed of government and civil society representatives. It also formalizes the country’s commitment to open governance through the PH-OGP National Action Plan.

Through this EO, we are transforming the whole-of-government approach into what we can call the whole-of-OPEN-government approach as the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches—in spite of being independent of each other—come together to harmonize our open government initiatives. We also plan to cascade this to the local level, ensuring vertical and horizontal open government integration.

Further, we are now preparing the country's first-ever medium-term OGP National Action Plan, which has a new feature in its design process through a technical intervention that ensures symmetry across commitment designs—from results to milestones—following theories of change.

On top of these, the Philippines remains committed to strengthening democracy and open government ​by having an open budget​, as we publish all our budget documents; open contracting,​ where we encourage open information in all stages of our procurement process; and open dialogue​, where we encourage public participation in policy-making.

We believe democracy is the best foundation for a sustainable and prosperous society—a society that we commonly aspire for in our countries. But, the success of our efforts would only be possible through the support of the whole OGP community. Together, let us scale up our actions in advancing reforms to build healthier and more vibrant democracies for our nations and the generations to come.

Let us truly embody a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. Because a democracy without participation is no democracy.

Again, thank you very much. Maraming salamat po.

A pleasant noon to our fellow anti-corruption champions and advocates of integrity and accountability!

I come from the South of the Philippines, so Assalamu alaikum wa Raḥmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

I am Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman, Chair of the Philippine Open Government Partnership. And I am happy and proud to say that we are one of the founding members of OGP. And just to show the magnitude of procurement nationwide, data shows that overall, public procurement represents an average of 13 to 20 percent of GDP.

And the same percentage increased during the time of the pandemic and global expenditure in procurement is estimated at nearly 9.5 trillion dollars and to zoom in, the Philippines–since we have a new Administration, we have a new Medium-Term Fiscal Framework, we will invest 5 to 6 percent of our GDP from now until 2028 to infrastructure spending. And yearly, roughly 45 percent of our national budget is for procurement.

So across the globe and even in the Philippines, public procurement is one of the governance aspects most prone to corruption. A study by the OECD revealed that corruption drains at least 20 percent of the procurement budget. Meanwhile, public procurement contracts that are awarded through a corrupt system may lead to lower quality of infrastructure and public services.

For this reason, delivering transparency in procurement and contracting processes is a pressing concern that merits global attention.

The Philippine procurement system also had its share of controversies in the past. Thus, this new Administration, we significantly advanced open contracting reforms and enriched participatory spaces for improved transparency and accountability in government procurement.

Thanks to these reforms, the Philippine government saved at least USD 12.26 million in 2022. With better procurement strategies and policies, we are estimated to save 26 to 29 percent of our total procurement spending.^[1]

Within just a year, we have already made significant improvements in our procurement system. This was possible through three things: alignment with national development goals, strong political will, and collective action.

Our Philippine Development Plan 2023 to 2028, our country’s medium-term socioeconomic blueprint, puts a premium on the transformation of public procurement, among others. This will be achieved through the use of data-driven tools, increasing private sector participation, observing Open Contracting Data Standards, implementing green public procurement, and modernizing the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System or PhilGEPS. Moreover, professionalizing our procurement practitioners.

Thankfully, our efforts at reform also have the support of our new president, President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., who recognizes the need to make government procurement more attuned to our changing times.

Thus, our 20-year-old law on Government Procurement, we will introduce amendments to our law.

In line with our bureaucratic efficiency and digital transformation agenda, the proposed amendments include systems integration for a more seamless procurement experience and the introduction of an eMarketplace feature.

And to further streamline the procurement process for greater efficiency, we are also proposing the mandatory use of our Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS). This will leverage technology in the submission and receipt of bid documents.

Moreover, mindful of OGP, our procurement process shall adhere to the principles of open government for increased transarency by mainstreaming public participation and inviting at least two observers—one from a duly recognized private sector and another from our Civil Society, to sit in all procurement proceedings, thus ensuring qual access to information at all stages of procurement.

With the simultaneous efforts of our partners in the private and civil society sectors, leveraging a whole-of-society and whole-of-nation approach, I am confident that we can create a public procurement system that is truly inclusive, sustainable, reliable, and transparent—one that we can proudly put at the heart of delivering public services.

Thank you very much.

^[1] MAPS-Assessment-report-philippines-volumeI.pdf (mapsinitiative.org)

To our fellow champions and advocates of open government and good governance, a pleasant afternoon. In Filipino, magandang hapon po. And, since I am also from an Indigenous Muslim group in Mindanao in the Philippines, the Maranao, allow me to greet you in Arabic: Assalamu alaikum wa Raḥmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

I am Amenah F. Pangandaman, Budget Secretary of the Republic of the Philippines and the Chair of the Philippine Open Government Partnership.

As PH-OGP Chairperson, it is my honor to welcome you all to this PH-OGP-led side event. 

First of all, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to everyone here today for engaging in this session. And, we are very fortunate to have with us as our distinguished panelists—Prudence Cele, Director in the National Treasury of South Africa; Jose Mauricio Ramirez, Secretary of Finance in Bogota, Colombia; Eneken Lipp, Head of the State Budget Development Office of the Government of Estonia; and our very own, Maria Francesca Del Rosario, Undersecretary and Chief Information Officer of the Philippine Department of Budget and Management. 

In line with the objective of the 2023 OGP Global Summit to renew democracy through cutting-edge digital governance, today’s Innovation Talks will focus on Fostering Transparency and Public Participation through Open Budget Portals. And I believe we are in the best place to hold this dialogue as we are in Estonia, the world’s first digital republic and home of the Tallinn Declaration on eGovernment.

Digital governance is one of the policy areas of OGP. As such, innovation and the use of digital technologies have always been an integral part of advancing open government reforms. Through digital transformation, we have created and opened up new spaces for engagement and empowered citizens to actively participate in identifying solutions to governance challenges.

Recognizing this, in the Philippines, the PH-OGP team really pushed for the institutionalization of OGP. And thankfully, our President recognizes the importance of both digital transformation and having an open government.  

I am proud to share that Executive Order (EO) Nos. 29 and 31 were recently issued. EO 29 provides for digital transformation through the full adoption of the Integrated Financial Management Information Systems while EO 31 provides for the institutionalization of the PH-OGP. Together, these EOs will propel the country toward bureaucratic efficiency and fiscal transparency.

Now we also want to ensure public participation. We recognize that promoting inclusive digital transformation entails ensuring adequate feedback mechanisms. These include monitoring public services and publishing in open data formats so that the public will have increased access, use, and interoperability across various datasets. And this is where Fostering Transparency and Public Participation through Open Budget Portals come in.

Open Budget Portals provide the public with online access to budget information, in open formats and in real-time. A 2017 study by the International Budget Partnership revealed that countries that have moved beyond the Open Budget Index (OBI) score of 60, such as Mexico, Uganda, and the Philippines, introduced open budget portals as part of their Public Financial Management reforms. An OBI score of 60 indicates that countries publish sufficient information to allow public discussions on the budget. 

In the Philippines, the Department of Budget and Management ensures the timely and online publication of key budget documents, which include the People’s Budget series, to support informed public debate on the national budget. We have also operationalized a Civil Society Organizations or CSO Desk to respond to requests for information and address budget-related queries.

These are just some of our mechanisms to ensure that every budget allocation, decision, and implementation involves public participation. But we must also acknowledge that with growing access to technology—through which citizens voice their concerns—comes a greater need to reinforce their trust and confidence in the government. 

While viewing this as a challenge, we should also embrace it as an opportunity to change people’s perceptions and encourage them to take part in public affairs. 

Hence, I fervently hope that our Innovation Talks this afternoon will not only showcase how fiscal transparency portals and digital solutions contribute to increasing public understanding of the budget process but will also provide a platform to share how we can maximize the transformative potential of digital technology to ensure greater efficiency in the delivery of public services and ultimately uplift the lives of our citizens.

As governments, it is our responsibility to make it easier for our citizens to enrich our civic spaces. Thus, it is high time for us to meet them halfway in digital platforms and through digital transformation. 

And it should not stop there. Digital transformation should lead us to digital governance that is not only felt by those who have access to it but more importantly, by those who do not have the means to do so. Only then can we say that we have genuinely opened the government to the people. 

I understand that Estonia's slogan is Positively Surprising. And indeed, Estonia is: I was told that taxes are completed online within 5 minutes; 99 percent of public services are available online 24-7; and nearly 1/3 of Estonia's citizens vote via the internet.

This is the digital transformation that the rest of the world should emulate!

I came here personally to share our achievements in Open Government in the Philippines. But today I hope to learn from the different countries about your policies and systems so that we may go back home motivated and inspired to do more for our country towards transparency, efficiency and open government.

Let us make all our countries positively surprising ... that we may take even greater strides towards having an Open Government!

Thank you very much. Wabillahi Tawfiq Wal Hidaya, Wasalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.

A pleasant afternoon to all.

Assalamu alaikum wa Raḥmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

First, I would like to thank the UP School of Economics (UPSE) for this invitation with my former professor, my mentor, and someone whom I am now honored to call my colleague in the Cabinet, Department of Finance, the head of the Economic Team, Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno—who will forever be my professor.

Thank you also to our dear participants for being present today, especially the alumni of the UPSE Program on Development Economics. It certainly feels good to be back in the halls of this institution that rigorously trained us to be prime movers and leaders in our field. And, of course, special shoutout to our batch, Batch 33 of PDE.

Indeed, UPSE prepared me for the work in the Senate, in the Executive, and even in Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. And I am grateful for this privilege to present to you today our country’s socioeconomic agenda and reforms toward transformative governance.

Socioeconomic Agenda

To ensure that we do not neglect socioeconomic objectives even as we achieve high-growth performance, our Fiscal Year 2023 National Budget, amounting to Php 5.268 trillion, has been aligned with the 8-point Socioeconomic Agenda and the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023 to 2028.

Thus, the Social Services sector—comprising Education and Health—has been given the highest budget allocation with Php 2.0 trillion or roughly 38.0 percent of the 2023 budget, while the Economic Services sector has been given the second highest share with Php 1.62 trillion or 30.8 percent of the total national budget.

This prioritization remains the same for the proposed FY 2024 National Budget, now amounting to Php 5.768 trillion, attesting to the current Administration’s resolve to reduce poverty, boost infrastructure, reinforce human capital development, and attain upper middle-income status by 2025.

Infrastructure Development

We have allocated Php 1.3 trillion in the 2023 National Budget to sustain the momentum of the public infrastructure boom through the Build-Better-More Program. In line with the MTFF, the infrastructure disbursements will be maintained between 5.0 to 6.0 percent of the GDP in the medium term, reaching Php 2.3 trillion by 2028.

The bulk of the infrastructure budget is intended for the development of physical connectivity infrastructure. This includes Php 478.7 billion for roads, Php 283.2 billion for flood control projects, Php 164.1 billion for local infrastructure development, and some Php 40.1 billion for railways this year.

For social infrastructure development, some Php 29.2 billion has been allocated for school buildings, Php 16.7 billion for water supply systems, and Php 14.4 billion for hospital and health centers. Meanwhile, some Php 3.7 billion has been allotted for power supply systems, Php 2.5 billion for housing and community facilities, and some Php 30.1 billion for irrigation systems.

We are also keen on improving our digital infrastructure. Hence, to continue harnessing the potential of a digital economy and achieve universal connectivity, we have allocated Php 24.13 billion for the digital transformation of the bureaucracy and the country.

Finally, in line with our commitment to sustainability and in response to the growing demand for green investments, we have in the pipeline infrastructure investment opportunities that align with internationally accepted definitions of green investments.

Alternative Financing Strategy

To help finance all these, the Economic Team will tap Public-Private Partnerships or PPPs. We recognize the important contributions of the private sector not only in bridging the infrastructure gap but also in implementing and innovating climate change solutions. And so, we are working on the provision of legal and regulatory support to PPPs and the development of local PPP projects in priority sectors. And incidentally, the head of the PPP Center is our batchmate—Ms. Cynthia Hernandez.

In addition, we pushed for the recent passage of the Philippines' very first sovereign development fund to promote fiscal stability through strategic and profitable investments in key sectors and augment the government’s limited fiscal space to fund its programs and projects.

DBM Reforms

At the Department of Budget and Management, we are also doing our part in achieving the transformation toward a more transparent, efficient, and responsive government which are crucial aspects of sustaining our economic growth.

Through our Digital Transformation Roadmap, we are promoting data governance and digitalization in fiscal-related government processes. This is why digital transformation is at the core of our Public Financial Management (PFM) Reform Agenda.

In constant pursuit of bureaucratic efficiency and fiscal transparency, the President issued Executive Order No. 29 directing the full adoption and implementation of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) in the processing of government financial transactions.

The Executive Order directs the PFM Committee, which consists of the DBM, together with the DOF, the Commission on Audit (COA), and the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), to conduct a review and reengineering of the key PFM processes including budget management and execution, cash management, and accounting and reporting.

We will also develop a PFM Reforms Roadmap to expedite the development of IFMIS while ensuring harmonization of policies across oversight agencies.

And in line with our PFM Reforms, we are also presenting to the President on Tuesday our proposed amendments to the decades-old Government Procurement Reform Act authored by the late Senate President Edgardo J. Angara.

I am also delighted to share that we have taken great strides toward open governance in the country with the signing of Executive Order No. 31 institutionalizing the Philippine Open Government Partnership or the PH-OGP.

Over a decade since the Philippines became a founding member of the Open Government Partnership, it was only institutionalized this year—a testament to this Administration’s commitment to promoting transparency, strengthening social accountability, and empowering Filipinos through public participation.

With all these developments, I hope you can see that our government is working, and more importantly, the Philippine Economic Team—all from UP—is working very hard.

More than the good news of our credit ratings, the S&P Global Market Intelligence forecast has declared that the Philippines is on its way to becoming a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2033. AND no less than the World Bank declared that the Philippines will achieve above-middle-income status in the next two years. So, there are a lot of things to be thankful for.

Now, we are not oblivious to the challenges that we have, and we are well aware that we still have a long way to go to achieve our dream of prosperity for all. But given that the economic team—again all from UP—I am confident that we will achieve our Agenda for Prosperity. Our economic transformation has already begun and I have no doubt that we WILL secure a future-proof and sustainable economy. Inshallah.

Thank you very much. Mabuhay po tayong lahat at padayon!

Wasalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.