Lacierda: Low budget transparency score 'strange'

MANILA, Philippines - Carrying a slogan of "transparent government," Malacañang found it "strange" that the country's budget transparency score is slipping, based on the latest Open Budget Survey by US-based International Budget Partnership (IBP).

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda displayed a puzzled look in a press briefing on Thursday upon learning that the country's rating on government's openness on budget and spending data dropped from 55 in 2010 to 48 in 2012.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) released the results of the survey in a press conference on Wednesday.

"That's strange. we've been more transparent now. I'm sure [Budget and Management Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad] will be surprised at that particular report," Lacierda said, adding that he has yet to review and scrutinize the report himself.

The PCIJ, which helped in the research of the study, said the 48-point score is above the global average of 43, but still below international standards of budget transparency.

"This indicates that the Aquino government, just like the Arroyo administration, has made it harder for citizens to get information on how public officials and agencies are spending taxpayers’ money," PCIJ researcher Karol Ilagan said in a statement.

The survey also revealed that Filipinos still do not have full access to information and documents on public coffers.

Lacierda added that the report is "surprising" as the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has been uploading the national government's funds and expenses to the Internet.

"We have a website--Budget ng Bayan website--kung saan nakikita ang mga budget at expenses. I find that surprising kasi nga all the efforts we've been doing we've always been laying it all out," Lacierda said.

The spokesperson also defended Abad, who is currently accompanying Aquino in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, saying he had been "very, very open" compared to the previous administration.

"Butch has pushed for an open governance upon instructions of the president. Kasi ang alam namin, we have been releasing [budget data] constantly," Lacierda said.

He added that all data on the spending of government agencies are available on the Web.

"The point nga eh, lahat kami online, online na lahat, pa'no kami (naging) less transparent now than in 2010 kung lahat (ng agencies) transparent," he said.

The survey, however, also mentioned that the Philippine government's score has all the potential to increase with just a few adjustments and measures, "some of which can be achieved at almost no cost on public coffers."

It also cited an improvement in public engagement on funding matters, made possible by DBM's partnership with civil society groups and stakeholders in the preparation of budget proposals.

The IBP also lauded the progress on oversight of budget policies, with the Commission on Audit earning an improved assessment of "strong" in 2012 from a "moderate" impression in 2010 resulting from reforms in its legal processes.