UK PM lauds Phl’s good governance programs

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration’s efforts to institute reforms in the bureaucracy have been lauded by Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom during the Open Government Partnership (OGP) summit in London, a Malacañang official said yesterday.

 â€œPrime Minister Cameron cited the Philippines’ good governance programs in his plenary speech and a speaker from South Africa spoke admiringly of the Philippine government’s performance-based budgeting system,” Press Secretary Herminio Coloma said.

Coloma said the news was relayed to him by presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, who attended the summit.

Lacierda, Commissioner Heidi Mendoza of the Commission on Audit (COA) and Undersecretary Von Moya of the Department of Budget and Management led the Philippine delegation.

 They were also resource speakers and panelists in different sessions during the summit.

 The Philippines was one of only six Asian countries invited, Lacierda said.

Coloma lauded COA for winning OGP’s Bright Spots contest for its pet project, Citizens’ Participatory Audit or CPA initiated by COA Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan.

 The Bright Spots award, given for the first time at the third OGP summit, recognizes inspiring examples of how open and accountable government is changing people’s lives.

The CPA received the highest number of votes from over 1,000 summit participants, beating six other bright ideas from Chile, Estonia, Georgia, Indonesia, Montenegro and Romania.

To date, CPA has four pilot audit programs – the Camanava Flood Control project of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Education’s PPP for school buildings, Quezon City’s solid waste management program and the barangay health centers in Marikina City.

The Bright Spots award aims to show how governments in OGP countries are working with citizens to sharpen governance, harness new technologies to increase public participation and improve government responsiveness.

The OGP summit in London was held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.