DBM highlights transparency, public participation initiatives at recent global summit
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F.
Pangandaman highlighted the government’s digital transformation initiatives
aimed at fostering transparency and public participation during the sidelines
of the 2023 Open Government Partnership Global Summit in Estonia on 04
September 2023.
The Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP) and the
Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency, in partnership with the Department
of Foreign Affairs, hosted the session titled “Innovation Talks: Fostering
Transparency and Accountability through Open Budget Portals" to highlight
innovative approaches that play a key role in opening Public Financial
Management processes.
In her message, Secretary Pangandaman, who also chairs the
PH-OGP, shared the PH-OGP team’s efforts to formally institutionalize the Open
Government Partnership in the Philippines.
“Thankfully, our President recognizes the importance of both
digital transformation and having an open government,” Secretary Pangandaman
said.
She continued, “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 (IFMIS) while EO 31 provides for the institutionalization of the
PH-OGP. Together, these EOs will propel the country toward bureaucratic
efficiency and fiscal transparency.”
On 01 June 2023, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed EO 29,
directing the full adoption of the IFMIS in government agencies.
The IFMIS is a consolidated platform of digitalization used in
public financial management processes, which starts with budget preparation,
execution, accounting, auditing to reporting. It aims to instill fiscal
discipline, speed up government transactions, promote on-time delivery and
implementation of services, as well as better planning of government spending
priorities.
Meanwhile, Executive Order No. 31, signed by the President on 20
June 2023, institutionalizes the PH-OGP as a multi-stakeholder partnership
responsible for overseeing and implementing the country's commitment to the
OGP.
The Budget Secretary also noted that the digitalization measures
in place seek to ensure that every budget allocation, decision, and
implementation involves public participation.
“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,” Pangandaman
shared.
She likewise said that with growing access to technology, there
comes a greater need to reinforce trust and confidence in the government.
The 2023 OGP Global Summit in Tallinn, Estonia will run until Thursday, 07
September 2023. (DBM/PIA-Caraga)
