DILG pushes open gov’t partnership

The Department of the Interior and Local Government is calling on all local government units and civil society organizations nationwide to back and participate the Open Government Partnership Local program.

DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said that the OGP Local is an onboarding program where members with existing Open Government initiatives will develop and implement local OGP action plans through a multi-stakeholder co-creation process which further contributes to a more open, accountable and responsive government.

"OGP in itself mirrors the whole-of-nation approach the current government espouses. The LGUs, CSOs and other stakeholders as critical actors towards achieving innovative and improved local governance can benefit from the OGP Local initiative," Abalos said.

He added that LGUs and CSOs collaborating under the OGP initiative opens opportunities for government and non-government stakeholders leading towards transparency, empowerment of the citizenry.

It is also envisioned to fight against corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen and advance governance down at the local level.

The DILG chief stressed that the agency is an advocate of Open Government and shall remain committed to continue, strengthen and support the PH-OGP advocacies as the Mindanao leg of OGPinas was held recently in Cagayan de Oro City and was attended by some 200 representatives from various government and private offices.

The PH-OGP — institutionalized through Executive Order 31, s. 2023 — aims to strengthen and expand the avenue of dialogues and partnership between the government and civil society groups.

Meanwhile, 55 LGUs were recently handed with SubayBaYANI Awards by the DILG for efficiently promoting transparency and accountability in implementing the locally-funded infrastructure and other related projects of the agency.

Abalos said the SubayBAYANI awards program aims to recognize and showcase the exemplary monitoring and evaluation practices and performance of monitors in the DILG field offices and the LGUs through the SubayBAYAN portal.

SubayBAYAN or Subaybayan ang Proyektong Bayan is DILG's official platform for real-time information on the physical and financial status of projects and other basic information related to the project implementation.

"Through this portal, we are able to ensure that the LGUs are implementing the DILG projects timely and efficiently and are reported to the public through the accessible online platform," Abalos said.

This year's 55 LGU SubayBAYANI awardees consist of 35 municipalities, 10 cities and 10 provinces which belong to the top 5 percent of the 1,500 LGUs handling a total of 19,000 locally-funded projects this year.

Among the top-performing regions cited for this year's SubayBAYANI awards are Regions XII, I and III while nine DILG personnel were also given special awards as top monitors of the Support to Barangay Development Program, Growth Equity Fund and Financial Assistance to Local Government Units Program.