PH ranks 1st in transparency, 3rd in public participation

CLARK FREEPORT— The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced the Philippines has made significant progress with respect to transparency and public participation.

The 2017 Open Budget Survey showed the country first in Asia for transparency and third in the world for public participation.

“The Philippines scored 67 out of 100 for budget transparency, making the country the best in Asia and 19th in the world in terms of fiscal transparency just after Germany. The global average score is 42. So here, we’re better than Indonesia, Jordan, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Timor Leste, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar,”DBM Secretary Benjamin Diokno told Central Luzon stakeholders during Friday’s Sulong Pilipinas 2018 Philippine Development Forum in Clark.

To sustain this, the government is working on institutionalizing the reforms made including the Congressional approval of the budget modernization bill so that it will be implemented no matter who sits as the next President.

Another reform that has been done is Project DIME which stands for Digital Imaging for Monitoring and Evaluation.

This is pursued by DBM together with Department of Science and Technology to revolutionize the method of monitoring the progress and completion of government projects.

“In a country with more than 7,000 islands, project monitoring is quite a challenge. But through the use of satellites, drones and computers, the status of infrastructure projects can easily be monitored without the need of actual physical inspection. This especially benefits projects undertaken in far-flung areas,” Diokno noted.

Also, by 2019, the government is set to roll out the modernized government electronic procurement portal which will contain additional features like data analytics and electronic revers auctions allowing merchants to offer items and the opportunity to out beat one another.— Marie Joy L. Simpao/PIA-3