Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Benjamin Diokno welcomed on Wednesday over 100 representatives from government agencies, civil society, academe, and business sector participating in the Philippine Open Government Dialogues kick-off program in Davao, City. The first in the series of public consultation workshops entitled “Co-Creating the 4th Philippine Open Government Partnership National Action Plan,” it aims to engage various sectors in crafting a new action plan that will be responsive to the needs of Filipinos. The public consultations feature sessions on the Philippine Development Plan, the national budget, and orientation on the different mechanisms or windows for participation that citizens can tap to better engage the government. New features of the consultation process include crowd sourcing and social media campaign. The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a unique international initiative aimed at securing concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, increase civic participation, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. OGP was founded in 2011 by eight governments—Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States—and now has 75 member countries. The next Open Government Dialogues will be held in Cebu City (April 25); Baguio City (May 5) and in Manila (May 19). The series of regional consultations will be conclude with the submission on June 30of the final PH-OGP National Action Plan.
