MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has improved its score in the survey of the level of transparency of the national budget among 94 countries.
But still, only “some” information are available in the survey of budget documents as regards the Philippines’ 2009 budget, according to the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), an independent institution that conducted the survey.
The Open Budget Index for 2010 found the Philippines with a rating of 55 out of 100, up from the 48 in the survey held in 2008 on the budget for 2007.
The first survey in 2006 on the 2005 budget saw the Philippines with a score of 51.
“Still, the Philippines’ score indicates that the government provides the public with only some information on the central government’s budget and financial activities during the course of the budget year. This makes it challenging for citizens to hold the government accountable for its management of the public’s money,” the report, which was released yesterday, said.
The International Budget Partnership’s Open Budget Survey assesses the availability of eight budget documents in each country and the comprehensiveness of the data in these documents.
The survey also looks into the effectiveness of oversight done by Congress and audit institutions.
The documents looked into are the pre-budget statement, the executive’s budget proposal, the enacted budget, the citizens budget, the in-year reports, the mid-year review, the yearend report and the audit report.
The index is divided into levels vis-a-vis the level of information: 81 to 100 (extensive), 61 to 80 (significant), 41 to 60 (some), 21 to 60 (minimal), and 0-20 (scant).
According to the report, the Philippines’ score climbed to 55 because it now published more comprehensive information in its executive’s budget proposal.
However, other key public documents seemed to be still unavailable.
For example, the pre-budget statement and the mid-year review were not published, said Karol Ilagan, PCIJ research director.
Ilagan noted that the pre-budget statement was deemed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to be an “internal” document. The mid-year review, on the other hand, was not published due to “lack of timely information.”
Ilagan said the citizen’s budget, or the one intended to enable the public to understand the government’s plans, was not produced. This was because of “lack of time” and was also “overtaken by other priorities.”
The report also noted that the budget oversight provided by Congress and the Commission on Audit (COA) was “inadequate.”
The COA was found to have insufficient resources.
The report also noted that the audit agency “does not issue timely audit reports on the final expenditures of national departments.”
According to Ilagan, the Philippines is one of 74 out of 94 countries that failed in “basic standards of transparency and accountability with the national budget.”
She said that while the Philippines has improved its score, it still “has a very long way to go.”
University of the Philippines professor and former national treasurer Leonor Briones said that while the survey looked into the budget documents, “not everything is documented.”
She said the study was not able to capture the “political negotiations” in both chambers of Congress and the bicameral conference committee.
In reaction, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the DBM is doing various initiatives to improve transparency, accountability and good governance in the area of public expenditure.