By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
“These achievements are encouraging. For us in government, these however, are not the destination.”
In his keynote speech on Wednesday, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Robert Kim de Leon welcomed the results of the Open Budget Survey 2025, which reflects the government’s unrelenting push towards openness in governance.
Figures show that the Philippines earned a 76/100 score in the transparency category, indicating sufficient efforts to upload and disclose budget information to media, enabling the public to understand government budget decisions and informing them about how fiscal policy works in deliberations on the administration’s financial resources.
This score places the country ahead of its Southeast Asian neighbors and even exceeds the target of 71/100 points in the Philippine Development Plan.
The survey also shows a 37/100 score in the public participation category, which is double than the global average—which also underscores significant strides by the government in enabling civil society groups to have a say on the direction, allocation, and distribution of the budget to benefit all parties.
Moreover, in the oversight category, the Philippines earned a 68/100 score, which shows that the country is on track to ensure adequate oversight in the planning and implementation of the national budget, which contributes to an informed debate and adherence to fiscal policy.
Secretary de Leon acknowledged that while there’s still work to be done, these figures paint a positive picture for the country’s financial standing on the global stage.
“These rankings are indicators of whether our institutions are becoming more transparent; whether our systems are becoming more credible; whether government processes are becoming more resistant to abuse, manipulation, and corruption; and whether or not citizens are beginning to feel the government is really working for them.”
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