On the road to open government

Second of three parts

FOR all the transformative measures outlined in the Philippine Government Action Plan for open governance, PGAP can only be as successful as the political will behind it.

If the Aquino Administration drags its feet on the plan as it has done on the Freedom of Information Act over the past 21 months, then PGAP would be yet another testimony to the world from one of eight founding nations of the worldwide Open Government Partnership, about how Filipinos are masters in brilliant ideas badly implemented.

Hence, the need to look closely at each provision in PGAP (downloadable in draft form at www.opengovpartnership.org/countries/philippines), then press for refinements before it is finalized in three months, and prod the government for its total, timely and tenacious implementation.

And there is much to pore over. After the introduction containing overall goals, PGAP has two more major sections: Open Government Efforts to Date, expounding on the administration’s ongoing initiatives to give the governed more access and say in government, and New Commitments for Open Governance, listing reform pledges.

This second part of the column will look at and comment on the first section of PGAP, recounting what the government says it has been doing for open governance. Then on Wednesday, the last part of this article will critique commitments for future initiatives. For space reasons, we can give the titles of provisions before commenting on them.

Mandatory Disclosure of Budget Information: The government should publish links to agency budgets and performance indicators. Top priority: DPWH and DBM, to monitor and address underspending.

Transparency in Local Governance: The Department of Interior and Local Government should publish and regularly update the list of LGUs that have yet to comply.

Official Gazette Online: It should include even Supreme Court decisions unfavorable to the administration, and important laws and issuances from past administrations.

Participatory Budget Process and Development Planning: In these and other processes in which civil society organizations (CSOs) and other non-government bodies are consulted, the entities should be named and the criteria and process of selecting them explained. Details of consultations should be made public, while allowing reasonable confidentiality.

Partnerships for Effective Service Delivery: Publish which programs are monitored and by whom, how monitors were chosen, and what procedures they employ. Post findings regularly in a single, CSO-administered SubayBayan.org site. Top priority: CSOs monitoring public works and their comments on underspending. Plus: CSO reports on local government units (LGUs) and conditional cash transfer (CCT).

Accountability of Government Corporations: The Supreme Court should rule on the constitutionality of the 2011 GOCC law. And to show it means business in making state firms accountable, the Palace should have Pagcor’s P400-million casino losses to a foreign gambling syndicate investigated.

Citizen’s Charters and Citizen’s Report Cards: The Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 designated the Civil Service Commission to follow up ARTA compliance. Under this writer in 2008-09, the CSC helped some 4,000 state entities nationwide to set up citizen’s charters, assistance desks, and anti-fixer measures in one year. It is now doing report card surveys with stakeholders of compliant offices. There should be regular updates on compliant and exemplar national agencies (NGAs) and local governments.

Revenue Integrity: Publish online the status of 184 tax evasion cases, 39 smuggling cases, and 86 anti-graft cases against revenue and customs personnel as of July. More important, reactivate the Bantay-Sakdal alliance of DOJ, DILG, PNP, IBP, law schools, civil society, media, and the Court Administrator, to monitor priority cases, including big tax and corruption suits, for rule of law and speedy due process.

Performance Challenge for Local Governments: Publish LGUs with ‘seal of good housekeeping’ and their best practices. Organize seminars for other LGUs featuring officials of outstanding local governments, who can also advice laggard LGUs.

Electronic Procurement: Get more state bodies, especially LGUs, and businesses using the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), by media campaign and user-friendly procedures and primer. But far more important: ensure and, if necessary, arrange multilateral funding for CSO observers in bidding all public contracts worth P10 million or more.

Precise Targeting of Social Protection Beneficiaries: Regularly update and debug the NHTS, monitor its accuracy, and incorporate its data in state policies and programs. Regular and comprehensive reports on CCT disbursements and beneficiaries would be one good way to assess NHTS.

Digitizing Releases from Congressional Allocations: Online monitoring of lump-sum pork barrel releases should be applied to other major outlays. CSOs should closely scrutinize releases to check if they are being used for political ends.

Online Avenues for Public Feedback and Communication: Publish actions taken on major concerns and complaints received online, to encourage more feedback. Otherwise, the public would lose confidence and interest.

In short, the nation and the world demand not catchy rhetoric, but concrete results. –RICARDO SALUDO, Manila Times

The first part was published last Friday, and the last will run on Wednesday.

Ricardo Saludo, CSC chairman in 2008-09, heads the Center for Strategy, Enterprise & Intelligence, which publishes The CenSEI Report on global and national issues. For copies, email report@censeisolutions.com.