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)