USAID Facilitating Public Investment | Monthly Newsletter

The dialogues were held in three key cities: General Santos City, Zamboanga City, and Quezon City. Each regional dialogue was well-attended and provided a platform for stakeholders to openly discuss policy measures that would have a far-reaching impact on the Philippines' economy and the lives of Filipinos. The OGP is an international initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, increase civic participation, fight corruption, and harness new technologies that strengthen governance. The Philippines has trailblazed in this effort by committing to open legislation at the provincial level, with the Provincial Governments of Albay, Bohol, and Agusan del Sur signing the 4th National Action Plan. The Department of Finance (DoF) launched the Philippine Tax Academy (PTA) on February 27, 2018, to advance the professional and ethical competence and commitment of tax administrators. The PTA will serve as a multidimensional educational and research institution, playing a key role in the culture change sought to be achieved in revenue agencies. The launch was attended by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who emphasized the importance of preparing institutions to operationalize fiscal reforms and achieve sustainable and inclusive development. The USAID Facilitating Public Investment (FPI) Project has been an active development partner of the Philippines in realizing the OGP agenda since 2013. The project has provided funding support to PH-OGP's regional dialogues and the Secretariat's participation in various international OGP events. USAID's Office of Economic Development and Governance Director Jeffrey Lehrer underscored the agency's continuous support to the Philippine Government's commitment in the OGP agenda, stating that a governance path rooted in transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement will help the Philippines and member-states of ASEAN become more effective and responsive to the needs of the people they serve. The Philippine-OGP Secretariat is lodged at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) with Secretary Benjamin Diokno as its OGP champion. Secretary Diokno emphasized the importance of citizen engagement in governance, stating that the government provides citizens a seat in the policy table and gives them a legitimate say and vote in what the government does and plans to do moving forward. The Government has been prioritizing its fiscal reform agenda, with the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) being enacted in December 2017. The Budget Department's Budget Reform Bill and Rightsizing Act is being worked out in the legislative, and a number of tax administration reforms are being implemented. The USAID has been a strong ally of the Philippine Government in its reform agenda towards good governance and economic growth, providing funding, technical, and capacity building support to government counterparts such as the DoF, BIR, and DBM.