Philippines Design and Implementation Report 2017-2019

The Philippines’ fourth action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... modestly increased citizens’ access to information, particularly in regard to the budget process, extractive industriesApplying open government values of transparency, participation, and accountability to extractive industries can decrease corruption, safeguard community interests and needs, and support environmental ..., and local government spending. Despite substantial completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... More, open government gains were modest. Going forward, the Philippines’ can achieve stronger reforms by raising commitments’ level of ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... and ensuring legislative support.

The Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) is a global partnership that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to create action plans that make governments more inclusive, responsive, and accountable. The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... monitors all action plans to ensure governments follow through on commitments. Philippines joined OGP in 2011. Since then, Philippines has implemented four action plans. This report evaluates the design and implementation of Philippines’ fourth action plan.

General overview of action plan

The Philippines’ fourth action plan saw high levels of completion but moderate open government advancements. This aligns with the fact that 8 of the 13 commitments were of minor ambition. While PH-OGP facilitated a broad consultation process, the final action plan predominantly reflects government priorities. Regardless, civil society remained engaged from commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... design through implementation.

Some notable governance reforms were implemented, particularly in regard to access to information and civic dialogue. Government agencies established eFOI portals to facilitate more efficient responses to citizen requests (commitment 5). Additionally, the government’s creation of an Assistance to Disadvantaged Municipalities portal increased citizen access to information on local infrastructure projects (Commitment 1).

A starred commitment must meet several criteria:

• The commitment’s design was Verifiable, Relevant to OGP values and had a Transformative potential impact, as assessed at the design stage of the action plan.
• The commitment’s implementation was assessed by the IRM as Substantial or

On the basis of these criteria, Philippines’ action plan has 0 starred commitments.

Table 2. Noteworthy commitments 

Five Key IRM Recommendations

The IRM provided the following recommendations to stakeholders in the Philippines during the prepublication review phase of the design section of this report. They are recorded here for public record. Please see the IRM’s 2019–2021 Design Report for the most recent IRM recommendations.