The Open Government Partnership (OGP) principles and values should go beyond its National Action Plan (NAP). These should be realized and promoted at all levels of government. This statement is the genuine change we seek.” This statement from the Philippine-OGP Non- Government Steering Committee Chairperson Andrea Maria Patricia Sarenas demonstrates the true clamor for genuine citizen participation in the OGP processes in all forms.

In 2021, the non-government sectors increased their voice and maximized their presence to influence the government in promoting the OGP values on transparency, accountability, and participation in implementing programs and plans.

The PH Non-Government Steering Committee issued a resolution calling for non-government involvement in developing the relevant policies related to implementing Executive Order No. 138 (EO 138). They reiterated the critical role of citizens in making the governance processes at the national and local levels more open, functional, participatory, inclusive, and truly responsive to the demands of the affected sectors and the needs of communities. The steering committee sent the statement to the Committee on Devolution, whose main role is to monitor the implementation of administrative and fiscal decentralization goals of EO 138.

Furthermore, Fiscal Transparency Webinars were held in 2021 which is the contribution of OGP in raising public awareness on EO 138. The PH Non-Government Steering Committee provided guidance in shaping the sessions, particularly on CSOs and public sector unions. The four-episode webinar gathered around 600 government and non-government stakeholders nationwide.

Moreover, the PH Non-Government Steering Committee members released a public statement calling the Department of Budget Management (DBM) to reaffirm their commitment to the OGP principles amid the contentious Commission on Audit (COA) findings regarding the Procurement Service – DBM. The Committee hoped to see DBM stepping up and cooperating in investigations to seek the truth behind these allegations.

Aside from the advocacy initiatives, the PH-OGP Non-Government Steering Committee and its secretariat monitored the 5th National Action Plan (NAP) implementation. They successfully piloted a third-party monitoring of the 5th NAP commitments, leading to the Citizen Monitoring Group (CMG) formation. Three CMGs have been established and activated for the three NAP commitments: Unang Hakbang Foundation for the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) OGP commitment, Youth Alliance for Freedom of Information for the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and LIFE Inc. for the Department of Tourism (DOT). These organizations have coordinated with their respective government agencies to discuss the monitoring initiatives of their OGP commitments.

This article is part of the CODE-NGO Annual Report 2021.