The Open Government Partnership (OGP) seeks to promote transparent, participatory, inclusive and accountable governance and must have zero tolerance for anything contrary to these principles within the partnership. The Philippine government is embroiled in wide-scale and high-level corruption scandals, with allegations against the president and even the budget secretary recently.
The Philippines’ current term as a member of the OGP’s global steering committee started in 2024 and ends in 2027. In OGP-PH, the executive order creating this designates the secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) as chair.
There is no longer any doubt that hundreds of billions of pesos in public funds are lost to corruption and pork barrel projects annually. Had they been used properly, these funds would have gone far in improving the lives and welfare of millions of Filipinos.
For instance, it is public record that the Marcos Jr administration has authorized Php987 billion in flood control projects, Php2.1 trillion in unprogrammed appropriations (UA), Php39 billion in discretionary contingent funds, and Php13.7 billion in opaque confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) for the president since 2023. This is aside from purportedly Php174 billion in ‘allocable’ pork barrel infrastructure projects for lawmakers annually.
Unfortunately, the DBM and its secretaries have long been critical shapers of the entire ecosystem of corruption being exposed today. The scale of corruption unfolding is only possible because it involves the very highest levels of government.
For the last three years, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman has been the chief architect of the national budget, in her role as Cabinet alter ego of Pres. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. Together they are politically, legally, and structurally responsible for the untold funds lost to corruption.
Serious allegations by former Ako Bicol representative and House of Representatives (HOR) appropriations committee chair Zaldy Co have already compelled the budget secretary’s resignation.
Under the leadership of the budget secretary, the DBM prepares the President’s Budget submitted to Congress, or the National Expenditure Program (NEP). The DBM effectively controls which projects are included in the budget. The secretary also has a central role in negotiating with legislators for their pork barrel projects, which the president would then approve if allegations of NEP ‘allocables’ are proven true.
Once the General Appropriations Act (GAA) including lawmakers’ insertions is passed by Congress, the budget department is the central releasing authority of the funds from which commissions and kickbacks are taken. The secretary is at this point a chokepoint for transparency because of the budget department’s control over all relevant budget-related documents. The DBM’s role is not even just limited to national agencies and includes government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and local government units (LGUs).
The OGP global steering committee is not the place for a government whose anti-corruption measures are turning out to be more performative than effective. Likewise, the chairperson of OGP-PH is better assigned to independent civil society rather than to a representative from a government so beset by corruption. A government “Point of Contact” (POC) can still be assigned as required by OGP.
The Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) and all civil society will always stand for genuine openness and transparency towards attaining real development and democracy for the Filipino people. #