People, Government Must Work Together to Achieve Fiscal Transparency, Says Advocate

Bagac, Bataan (PNA) — Achieving fiscal transparency requires concerted efforts on the part of the people, the government, and civil society organizations, the head of a global network on fiscal transparency has said.

“If you want an open government, if you want open budgets to have an impact, you need not expect government disclosing information but a civil society having access to those information and make it meaningful, use it and take government to account,” said Juan Pablo Guerrero, network director of the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT), during a press conference here Tuesday.

“The rule is very basic. They are not a government that is honest, if you don’t have a demanding civil society requesting for that honesty, that efficiency, the delivery of government that really addresses the people’s needs, you don’t achieve transparency,” he said.

Guerrero, from Mexico was one of the participants in the ongoing Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Workshop on Fiscal Management Through Transparency and Reforms.

He noted that there must be training for the people, as well as for public officials.

“You need to help the people understand that the budget is their money — basically, the money that originated in civil society, but it has technicalities, it has complexities,” he said.

He further urged advocates of fiscal transparency to work with people in government, explaining that the goal is for them to disclose information in a way that is meaningful and relevant and addresses the specific interests of the people.

At the same time, he said, there must be a sense of ownership by the people, so that the government works with honesty.

He also pointed out the importance of media coverage as it raises awareness among the people on how public funds are spent.

The people must realize that the funds being used by the government actually originated from their taxes, he said.

He however observed that it takes time for the people to understand how this works.

“It takes some time for training, some time for the people to really assume this right to information and the right to participation in public policies, decisions and acts that affect them,” Guerrero said.

The long-term goal of GIFT, he said, is to have a transparent system that people in the Asia-Pacific region could adopt.

“We would like to work in the Philippines, in Indonesia or in Vietnam, the way we’re working in Brazil, in Paraguay, in Bolivia or in Venezuela — countries where transparency is still, to some extent, just a word, a dream and not close to reality,” he said.

The GIFT is a multi-stakeholder action network working to advance and institutionalize global norms to improve fiscal transparency, and people’s participation, as well as advance accountability in countries around the world. (PNA) LGI/PND/SSC