MANILA, Philippines — Budget Secretary Mina Pangandaman celebrated the inclusion of four local government units (LGUs) into the Open Government Partnership (OGP) on Tuesday. The new members, Tagbilaran, Larena, Quezon City, and Baguio, join a global initiative aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability in governance.
According to Philippines News Agency, who also chairs the OGP-Philippines, this expansion is a significant step forward in improving the delivery of services through active civil society participation. "As Chair of the Philippine Open Government Partnership, I officially welcome Tagbilaran, Larena, Quezon City, and Baguio cities to OGP. This is a big boost to our campaign for open governance. I look forward to working with you in making our government more open, transparent and accountable," she stated in a news release.
The addition of these four LGUs expands the OGP's presence across all major regions of the Philippines, including Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. They join earlier members South Cotabato and Borongan, Samar, which were accepted into the partnership in 2018 and 2020, respectively.
The OGP was co-founded by the Philippines in 2011 as a collaborative effort among governments, civil society, businesses, and non-profits to foster better governance through the principles of access to information, public accountability, and citizen participation. The Philippines is one of the eight founding nations of the OGP, which also includes Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Since 2016, the OGP Local program has allowed local governments to join the initiative, promoting the adoption of open governance principles at the municipal level. This approach was further solidified in the Philippines last year by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who institutionalized the program through Executive Order 31, providing a robust policy and legal framework for integrating open government principles across all government branches.
"With this EO, we are able to provide a solid policy and legal framework to ensure that the open government principles are embedded in programs and policies in all branches of government," Pangandaman added, expressing her desire to see even more LGUs join the partnership. "With more LGUs joining OGP, we strengthen our commitment to OGP even more," she concluded.