DBM to Hold 2-day Visayas Good Governance Dialogues

In the pursuit of implementing open government reforms in line with good governance initiatives, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will conduct a two-day ‘Good Governance Dialogues: A Regional Forum on Open Government and the National Budget’ for the Visayas starting today, October 16 to 17 in Cebu City.

Objectives of the regional forum are to raise awareness on the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and the Good Governance Cluster including fiscal transparency particularly on the national budget.

It also aims to encourage support for the OGP commitments and good governance cluster initiatives through dialogues with good governance reform champions at the local and national levels.

The forum wants to provide an avenue for action planning among local government units and local civil society organizations on co-creating and co-developing the next OGP Action Plan and localizing the OGP commitments.

Around 200 participants from various local government units, national government agencies, civil society organizations, business groups, international development partners and academe from Regions 6, 7 and 8 are expected to attend.

The forum will feature dialogues between good governance champions from the national and local governments and the 2015 National Expenditure Program and Budget Priorities.

In the afternoon of the second day, a ‘talakayan’ with good governance champions will be held with Sec. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino, Finance Sec. Cesar Purisima, Bureau of Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla, Bureau of Internal Revenue Sec. Kim Henares, DBM Usec. Richard Moya and Dr. Cielito Habito of the Ateneo de Manila University.

The talakayan session will provide an overview of the key reforms that led to economic rewards, the challenges encountered in implementing these reforms, and how these reforms will be sustained beyond 2016 from both the perspective of government and non-government sectors.

The DBM on the other hand, is the secretariat of the Cabinet Cluster on Good Governance and Anti-Corruption and the Philippine OGP.

The Philippines meanwhile, is one of the founding members along with 64 participating countries of the OGP in 2011. The OGP is an international platform for domestic reformers committed towards making their governments more open, accountable and responsive to citizens, according to the DBM.

The commitment to the OGP necessitates that government and civil society work together to develop and implement open government reforms.

The regional forum is organized by the DBM in partnership with the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, USAID, and the civil society members of the PH OGP. (mbcn/fcr/PIA-7)