*PH lists 12 commitments in new Open Government action plan

The PH-OGP National Action Plan 2017-2019 listed 12 commitments under the first OGP action plan of the Duterte Administration with the theme “Co-creating Governance Outcomes with the Filipino People.” (Photo By: Open Government Partnership, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA — The government launched Tuesday the fourth Philippine-Open Government Partnership (OGP) National Action Plan during a high level regional conference held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

The PH-OGP National Action Plan 2017-2019 listed 12 commitments under the first OGP action plan of the Duterte Administration with the theme “Co-creating Governance Outcomes with the Filipino People.”

“Our participation in the Open Government Partnership clearly shows that the Duterte administration is determined to deliver our promise to listen to the people and serve them better,” Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.

“We spent several months crafting the new National Action Plan with our citizens from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and we are proud that we have developed an action plan that is not only attuned to our development goals, but more importantly, responsive to the needs of our people,” added Diokno, who is also the chairman of the PH-OGP Steering Committee.

In his keynote speech during the conference, Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. noted that the new action plan is unique as it features a sub-national commitment, strengthening the engagement of local government units (LGUs) in OGP.

He added the latest action plan focuses on crafting commitments that would make direct and positive impact to the lives of ordinary Filipinos.

Of the 12 commitments of the Philippine government, which will be implemented from 2017 to 2019, seven are new commitments, while five are continuing commitments from the past three action plans.

The 12 commitments under the PH-OGP National Action Plan 2017-2019 are strengthening civil society participation in local planning and development; engaging communities in the fight against corruption, criminality, and illegal drugs; improving the ease of doing business; expanding and institutionalizing the citizen participatory audit; empowering citizens with the feedback mechanism on services provided by the government and government-owned and controlled corporations; passing legislation on access to information;

Providing e-participation tools through the national government portal and promote its use to the whole of government; increasing transparency integrity and effectiveness in the management of public resources; increasing transparency and accountability in the extractive industries; revolutionizing mechanisms for evacuation and disaster response; improving delivery services to informal settlers and resettled families and empower them through community organizing; and pushing for Open Legislation processes through social media and the web.

OGP Deputy Chief Executive Officer Joe Powell noted that the Open Legislation process in the latest action plan is a “fantastic innovation in the Philippines”, which should be replicated by other OGP participating countries.

To date, OGP has 75 participating countries across the globe.

The Philippines is among the eight founding nations of OGP in 2011, which also include Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, South Africa, United Kingdom, and United States.