Massive corruption amidst 'open government'

At the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit on Oct. 9, the Philippine government, represented by Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, accepted an award “for its commitment to improve data availability, interoperability, and public participation in procurement” in the Asia and Pacific Region. The Philippines was also the winner in the OGP’s anti-corruption category.

- JENINA JOY CHAVEZ, NEPOMUCENO MALALUAN and MALOU MANGAHAS

This is the biggest irony, however — while the Marcos administration accepted these awards, it is also receiving massive backlash over the largest corruption scandal in Philippine history.

The OGP was launched in 2011 with the Philippines as one of eight government members of the steering committee. Nearly 15 years later, the Philippines has still failed to adequately meet two of four OGP “Core Eligibility Criteria” for membership — “Asset Disclosure” and “Access to Information.” A third eligibility criteria — “Fiscal Transparency” — has turned into a myth, too, given recent exposés on unprogrammed funds and congressional insertions used for corruption in flood control projects and perhaps other expenditure items. It has failed to inspire strong traction on the fourth eligibility criteria of “Citizen Engagement.”

On Sept. 16, 2011, before the OGP launch in New York, the Right to Know, Right Now! (R2KRN) Coalition had called out the Philippine government in a statement titled “Double Talk on FOI: Gov't long on promises, short on political will.” In it, the R2KRN pointed out the striking irony of the Philippines committing to the OGP while refusing to pass a Freedom of Information (FOI) law. Years later in 2020, the Office of the Ombudsman put the asset records of senior public officials under lock and key. The irony and double talk on OGP linger to this day in the Philippines.