At a recent virtual town-hall discussion organized by the International Budget Partnership, DLSU Institute of Governance and the Stratbase ADR Institute, it was shared that the Philippines ranked 61st out of 100 countries in the Open Budget Index and garnered a raw score of 76/100 points in terms of transparency. This is consistent with the almost annual increases in terms of Philippine performance in this independent study, whose legitimacy is bolstered by rigorous reviews and counterchecks.
Democracy Watch Philippines considers this welcome news because, as stated by Sen. Sonny Angara in the discussion, one cannot overstate the importance of a budget. Within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the Wuhan virus, this statement becomes doubly true. The emergency nature of this public health and economic crisis has triggered a virtual avalanche of funds, from the Bayanihan I and II to the proposed 2020 budget.
While the data is in our favor in terms of transparency, we must take to mind the fact that transparency without civic engagement will not lead to accountability. As shared by speakers from academe and government, participation of citizens in the budget making and auditing process leads to a democratized budget created not only for the benefit of the people, but with the people’s guidance.
In this regard, the all-encompassing nature of the pandemic crisis presents a considerable silver lining.
With the long-lasting lockdowns and health risks, all aspects of life have been pushed online. The risk has acted as a catalyst, speeding up the already existing trend towards total digitization. This includes the trend towards e-governance. Such a change is beneficial when it comes to translating budget transparency to accountability. Streaming, cloud services, and increased access to digital platforms and social media gives the government channels to engage with the general public, (and vice versa,) in order to give citizens and opportunity to air grievances, forward suggestions, and become genuinely engaged with accountability mechanisms.
In essence, what we are presented with is an opportunity for a genuine and participative democracy.
However, this can only be done with broad and inter-sectoral collaboration. In the same way that the private telco corporations have taken efforts to increase the range and resilience of their networks, and civil society and academe have tirelessly worked to ensure that raw data becomes actionable information, the government must match this with concrete support: less red tape and more public investment.