Phl receives award for citizen empowerment

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has been recognized for its outstanding efforts in deepening citizen engagement in the budget process.

At the inaugural Open Government Partnership Awards at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, the country was granted the Gold Open Government Award for Grassroots Participatory Budgeting on Sept. 24.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Department of Budget and Management said the honor was one of the three gold awards given out this year to recognize innovative and citizen-driven initiatives in designing and implementing public policy.
Denmark and Montenegro were given the same award.

Various heads of state, including US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudyohono attended the gathering.
Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Soliman and Patricia Sarenas of the Mindanao Coalition of Development Non-Government Organization Networks (MinCODE) accepted the award on behalf of the Philippines.

“This award is an affirmation of the government – both national and local – and the thousands of civil society organizations and communities for their dedication and hard work to make this program possible,” Soliman said.

“The grassroots participatory budgeting (GPB) has continued to attract critics because of the game-changing nature of the program, helping us veer away from the culture of patronage and towards empowering our people to work closely with government.”

Soliman said the recognition is important to the government as it encourages Filipinos to work more towards an open government.

The GPB engages local communities, civil society organizations (CSOs) and other stakeholders to work with city and municipal governments in proposing projects to be included in the national budget.

From its pilot implementation in 2012, the GPB has expanded to 1,590 cities and municipalities and resulted in a larger allocation of P21 billion for 16,000 locally-identified projects to be included in the 2015 national budget.

The Open Government Partnership, of which the Philippines is a founding member, is a movement of 64 governments and international and national CSOs with the common objective of deepening the practice of open government across its member countries.

The Philippines has recently crafted its second OGP Action Plan which contains nine commitments, including the GPB Program, the Seal of Good Local Governance and the passage of the Freedom of Information Act.
“The country’s recognition is a testament to the unwavering commitment of the Aquino administration for transparent, accountable and participatory governance,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said.

“As much as we are proud of this achievement, we are all the more humbled because the efforts of our local government units and communities have made it possible for the Philippines to be recognized on the world stage, reminding us that the challenges and trials of reform we face are not in vain,” he said.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing she would let those criticizing this budget innovation to make a judgment for themselves.

“But as far as we are concerned, we are very happy with the award. This is not a vindication but perhaps a recognition of the efforts that we have put in to meet our commitments as a founding member of the OGP, and they’re very concrete commitments,” Valte said.