Essence of ‘open govt’ cited in OGPinas! Cebu leg

BUDGET and Management (DBM) Secretary and Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP) Chairman Amenah Pangandaman has stressed the importance of crafting and implementing the 6th National Action Plan (NAP) embodied under the OGPinas! in Cebu recently.

“National Action Plan or NAP is a product of co-creation process of the government and civil society, wherein we will cooperate to create commitments that are aimed at instituting reforms in an open government,” said Pangandaman in her message during the Cebu event.

Around 250 participants from different sectors in Region 7 including more than a hundred civil society members attended this year’s run of OGPinas! which aims to highlight the commitments under the 6th PH-OGP NAP, socializing the PH-OGP’s medium-term plans.

The commitments highlighted in the Cebu leg of OGPinas! included the improvement of the quality of participatory governance in local government institutions under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the sub-nationalization of transparency, accountability, and participatory governance mechanisms in the extractives sector under the Department of Finance.

“It encapsulates our hopes and dreams for an open government in the country and our intentions to provide a better life for our fellow Filipinos through improved public service delivery,” added Pangandaman, referring to the OGPinas!.

Meanwhile, representing the civil society sector, Central Visayas Network of NGOs (Cenvisnet) Executive Director Lenbi Laborte shared various civil society-led open government initiatives in Central Visayas, illustrating the activeness and vibrancy of civil society engagement in the region.

Cebu 3rd District Board Member John Ismael Borgonia, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan, DBM Undersecretaries Wilford Will Wong and Margaux Salcedo, DBM Assistant Secretary and PH-OGP Head Secretariat Rolando Toledo, DBM 7 Director Lenin Bernales and Assistant Regional Director Maricor Baquial, DILG Assistant Secretaries Ester Aldana and Josephine Leysa, and DILG 7 Director Leocadio Trovela also attended the event.