PHILIPPINES New Commitments for Open Governance

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1 PHILIPPINES New Commitments for Open Governance Every gain, including the gains mentioned above, paves the way for increasing transparency, accountability and citizen s participation. The Philippine Government believes that open government will curtail the ability for corrupt officials and those interested in political patronage at public expense, to operate with impunity. Open government also plays a key role in empowering the poor and strengthening the constituency for reform. The Government will embark on the following beginning January 1, 2012: Improve Transparency of Government Agencies Escalate Fiscal Transparency. By the end of June 2012, the government will improve the compliance rate of departments in the Executive branch in the disclosure their approved budgets, utilization of funds, awarded bids and annual procurement plans to 100 percent xxvii. Agency compliance will be measured by an index, to be developed and published online within 90 days, and to be co-managed with CSOs. Promote Access to Government Information. Throughout 2012, the Government will move towards adopting a policy for citizens to freely access government information in a timely, relevant and meaningful way, subject to certain limitations such as national security, foreign diplomacy and privacy concerns. It will work with CSOs and the private sector in broadening the scope of access to official information through all possible means; as well as in improving the compliance of government agencies to existing standards of information disclosure. Deepen Citizen Participation Organize a Philippine Open Governance Partnership. During the preparatory phase of this Action Plan, the Government will organize a Philippine Open Governance Partnership that will be tapped in plotting open government reforms in the medium-term, in monitoring performance and in surfacing broader areas where interventions need to be escalated. Government will engage a broad spectrum of national and local CSOs, business groups, academe and other stakeholders; as well as reach out to the Legislature, the Judiciary, Constitutional Bodies and Local Governments for them to take part in open government endeavors. Expand Participatory Budgeting. By the end of June 2012, in time for the preparations for the 2013 National Budget, the Government will expand the coverage of participatory budget preparation to at least 12 departments and 6 government corporations, and enhance the process to address issues experienced during the pilot consultations for the 2012 Budget. Before end-2012, the

2 Government, in consultation with CSOs, will craft a roadmap to expand and institutionalize participatory budgeting to the other phases of the budget cycle xxviii and to the national, regional and local levels. Forge Partnerships for the Development of Local Government-Level Poverty Reduction and Empowerment Plans. The government will push for stronger collaboration between national agencies, local government units (LGUs) and community organizations in localizing poverty through LGU-level poverty reduction and empowerment plans. During the preparatory phase of this Action Plan, 600 qualified LGUs and partner-csos will be identified; community facilitators will be recruited and trained; and manuals for the training the community organizers. From January to July 2012, community workshops will be conducted in drafting community poverty reduction plans that will be incorporated into the proposed National Budget for Establish an Empowerment Fund. To support the bottom-up approach in development planning and budgeting, the Government will establish a facility to support CSOs in organizing citizens and communities to engage government in the implementation and audit of poverty reduction programs. A mechanism will be developed to safeguard the independence of CSOs from the agencies they engage. Such facility will be established during the fourth quarter of Screening, selection and provision of funding to qualified CSOs will be undertaken throughout Institutionalizing Social Audit for Public Infrastructure Projects. The A partnership between the Audit commission, Executive departments xxix and CSOs will craft a roadmap for institutionalizing social audit for general public works and agriculture infrastructure projects by end-2011, for implementation throughout Escalate Accountability to Ethical and Performance Standards Harmonizing Performance Measurement Systems in Government. To ensure a single approach in measuring government performance at the institutional, financial or individual level the government will design and begin cascading a harmonized performance measurement system from the disparate systems at present. A Task Force will be constituted before end-2011 to formulate such a consolidated and harmonized performance measurement system by March Implementation of this system will begin in April 2012, for review by December Install Results-Oriented Budgeting in More Agencies. The Organizational Performance Indicator Framework (OPIF) will be further mainstreamed into the budget and planning processes of all agencies and harmonized with existing performance measurement systems in government. By end-2012, 10 Departments xxx will have fully-developed OPIF systems, with clearly defined agency outputs and performance indicators that are linked to the Philippine Development Plan.

3 Meanwhile, the Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB) will again be used, and in an expanded manner, in crafting the proposed National Budget for From January to June 2013, at least seven additional programs and projects would have been subjected to ZBB. Increase Compliance with Citizen s Charters. By the end of 2012, Government will ensure that 100% of national government agencies have published a Citizen s Charter. Agencies shall also strive to improve their Citizen s Charters as well as their processes for frontline and other services, and response mechanisms to complaints and reports in consultation with CSOs. Roll-out Internal Audit and Internal Control Manuals. Before the end of 2011, the Government will issue a Philippine Government Internal Audit Manual (PGIAM). From January to December 2012, the PGIAM and the National Guidelines on Internal Control System (NGICS) will be rolled-out in nine critical departments xxxi. This is in line with the target of all agencies adopting the PGIAM and NGICS by Embedding Accountability in Local Governance. In line with the goal of making all lower-income municipalities and cities xxxii pass the Seal of Good Housekeeping by 2016, the Interior and Local Government department will increase the compliance rate to existing standards from 50% to 70% before the end of Furthermore, new standards that link performance in social development areas to the awarding of Seal of Good Housekeeping and Performance Challenge Fund grants would have been developed. Maximize Technology and Innovation Establish a Single Portal for Government Information. The proposed Single Portal for Government Information is envisioned to be a central government website where citizens can access government information as well as provide feedback on government performance. Throughout 2012, the Government, in consultation with stakeholders, will craft a roadmap and develop a Single Portal for Government Information which complies with basic open data standards. Install a Government Integrated Financial Information Management System. To ensure the efficiency of government financial management procedures, the Government will develop a complete Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) by By August 2012, the first track of GIFMIS, which will serve as the single data sharing platform of government s oversight agencies xxxiii, will be developed. Pursue Electronic Bidding and Procurement. In line with the medium-term goal of digitizing the bidding process, the Government will develop additional features of PhilGEPS by December These new features include a facility to enable the online submission of bid documents; a module for CSOs to monitor tenders

4 online; an electronic fee payment system; an expanded supplier registry and a module for agency posting of their annual procurement plans. The Government will also develop and pilot a system of procurement cards, in lieu of the often-abused system of cash advances, by June Establish a National Justice Information System. In line with addressing the slow pace of justice that has compromised poor victims and poor suspects, the Government will develop a National Justice Information System (NJIS), an integrated criminal justice database system that will facilitate the efficient recording, monitoring, tracking and reporting of crimes, cases, offenders and victims. By December 2012, the Justice department will develop and implement an online registry of opinions, issuances and other legal documents that will easily be accessible to judicial agents. The first phase of NJIS, which will integrate the systems of law enforcement, prosecution and corrections agencies, is envisioned for completion by the end of xxxiv Establish a Manpower Information System and Central Payroll System. To better manage government manpower requirements and improve accountability in the disbursement of funds for personal services, the Government will enhance its Government Manpower Information System (GMIS) as a comprehensive database of government manpower by the end of By December 2012, a National Payroll System that is linked to GMIS will be developed and piloted xxxv. Develop a Registry of Farmers and Fisherfolk. The Government envisions a full database-registry of farmers and fisherfolk that will more accurately identify and reach beneficiaries of government interventions for agricultural and fisheries development, and to reduce the past massive leakage of government funds for this purpose. In the first quarter of 2012, a pilot registry will be developed covering 20 provinces with the high poverty incidence and high vulnerability to natural calamities. Electronic Transparency for Congressional Allocations and Lump Sum Funds. By the end of 2012, the Government will expand the etails so that 1) other often-politicized lump-sum funds xxxvi are processed through it; and 2) where citizen reportage on the implementation of projects funded by Congressional Allocations is enabled. Interactive Fiscal Transparency. The Government will develop and launch a Budget ng Bayan xxxvii website, which will serve as an interactive platform for citizens to learn about and find information on the National Budget as well as to file citizen reports on its implementation. Such a website will be activated by March 2012 and it will be fully operational by December During the period of October to December 2011, prior to the commencement of the implementation year, the Philippine Government shall continue looking into further improving this 2012 OGP Action Plan. More importantly, it shall broaden public consultations and

5 cooperation with other branches of Government in ensuring the sustainability of open government reforms over the medium-term Footnotes: xxvii Of 22 Departments of the executive branch, 6 have posted their approved budgets on their websites (DBM, DoH, DILG, DND, DPWH, DoTC), 3 have posted their fund utilization reports (DBM, DILG, DSWD), 13 have posted their awarded bids (DBM, DepEd, DENR, DoF, DFA, DoH, DILG, DoLE, DND, DPWH, DSWD, DoTC, NEDA) and 10 have posted their annual procurement plans (DBM, DoH, DILG, DoLE, DND, DPWH, DSWD, DoTC, NEDA, PCOO). xxviii In particular, in the budget legislation, execution and accountability phases. xix In particular, the Budget, Public Works and Agriculture departments. xxx The OPIF has already been cascaded in 10 Departments: DA, DAR, DENR, DSWD, DoT, DPWH, DBM, DoF, DoH, DepEd. xxxi In particular, the Public Works, Education, Finance, Justice, Health, Social Welfare, Budget, Labor and Environment departments. xxxii Lower-income municipalities are those belonging to the 4 th -6 th classes. There are a total of 619 municipalities under these classes. Lower-income cities are those belonging to the 4 th to 5 th classes. There are a total of 28 cities under these. xxxiii Particularly, the Finance and Budget departments and the Commission on Audit. xxxiv DoJ Inputs xxxv In accordance with Executive Order No. 31 series of 2011 xxxvi Modules for the School Building Fund and the Internal Revenue Allotment of Local Governments are slated for development.