RP scores so-so in budget
transparency survey

Our latest report by PCIJ Research Director Karol Anne Ilagan reveals the not-so-cheery score of 55 (out of a perfect score of 100) that the Philippines obtained in the the 2010 Open Budget Index, a survey of budget transparency and accountability in 94 countries.

The Philippine score reflects both progress and regress. The country snared two A’s for publishing a comprehensive enacted budget (General Appropriations Act) and in-year reports, but also a D for producing a yearend report sorely lacking in information on actual budget execution compared with approved sums in the enacted budget.

Worst of all, the Philippines got two E’s – for failure to publish and disclose in 2009 its pre-budget statement, mid-year review, and citizens’ budget, as well as for conducting incomplete and belated audits of all expenditures and extra-budgetary funds.

Only three of eight standard budget documents are fully accessible to the Filipino people, an issue that should resonate well with President Benigno C. Aquino III, who has sworn to uphold transparency as a cornerstone policy of his government.

But it must be stressed that in the field of the refurbished and restricted democracies, and repressive regimes, of Southeast Asia, the Philippine score makes it the leader in budget transparency. It did better than Thailand (42), Malaysia (39), Timor-Leste (34), Cambodia (15), and Vietnam (14). Burma, Laos, and Singapore were not included in the OBI Survey.

Budget transparency empowers and enables citizens to participate effectively in decision-making, yet also enhances the credibility of policies and programs. It is said that countries with more transparent budgets also tend to have better access to international financial markets and lower borrowing costs.

This is the third round of the OBI Survey in the Philippines that has involved the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) as country research team. The research was conducted in the last nine months in 94 countries under International Budget Partnership program of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a not-for-profit international NGO based out of Washington, DC.