To the City Government of Zamboanga;

PH-OGP Steering Committee members from the government and civil society;

Our very own DBM Regional Office IX, led by Director Mark Louie Martin;

Our commitment holders, stakeholders, and participants,

Magandang araw po sa ating lahat at Buenas tardes, Zamboanga!

Assalamu alaikum wa Raḥmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

I am delighted to join all of you today, although virtually, for another run of OGPinas!, our nationwide advocacy campaign which embodies the essence of open government—ang pagkakaisa ng mga mamamayan tungo sa bukás at mabuting pamamahala ng bayan.

This is the 10th province we have visited since we launched the campaign in 2023. To date, we have introduced the Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP) and personally engaged more than 1,500 Filipinos from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, including BARMM.

And I am always so happy to see that during our OGPinas visits, our local officials are doing their part to advance the cause of open government in their localities.

When we attended the OGP Global Summit in Tallinn, Estonia last year, no less than the OGP Chief Executive Officer Sanjhay Pradhan said that open government is in the DNA of Filipinos. Naniniwala po ako na totoo ‘yan dahil sinisikap po natin na ang Pilipinas ay patuloy na maging "trailblazer in open governance.”

Indeed, we are doing this. Just last April, we proved our commitment to open government yet again because four out of the 55 new members of the OGP Local Program are local government units from the Philippines! These LGUs are Baguio City, Quezon City, Municipality of Larena in Siquijor, and Tagbilaran City, and they are joining South Cotabato and Borongan City, Eastern Samar. So now we have LGUs in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao all represented in OGP. At sa mga susunod na taon, sana mas dumami pa po ang from Mindanao and BARMM.

Nakapaka-importante po ng OGP dahil ito ay isang inisyatibo upang magkaroon ng transparency at accountability ang ating gobyerno. And I am happy to report that just this May, the Philippines ranked number 1 in budget transparency, not only in Southeast Asia but in all of Asia, based on the latest Open Budget Survey.

Ibig sabihin, ang national budget natin ay bukas at maaaring siyasatin ng publiko. Higit pa diyan, sa pamamagitan ng ating People’s Budget series, sinisikap natin na maintindihan ng lahat ang nakalaang pondo para sa mga programa at proyekto sa bawat sektor ng gobyerno.

Number one din po tayo sa Southeast Asia pagdating naman sa Public Participation. Ibig sabihin, sinasama natin ang taong bayan, kasama na ang mga Civil Society Organization, sa decision-making process ng gobyerno.

Pang-anim naman po tayo sa buong mundo pagdating sa budget oversight. Ibig sabihin, nakabantay ang Kongreso at ang ating Commission on Audit mula budget preparation hanggang budget execution.

Hangarin po natin na maging ehemplo ang Pilipinas ng open government sa buong mundo.  So I am very happy to share that the Philippines, just this May, has been elected as a new member of the OGP Steering Committee, joining countries such as Brazil, Estonia, Morocco, and the United Kingdom to be represented by yours truly. This is a big responsibility, but I am grateful and looking forward to this rare opportunity to show the world all that we are doing, and I hope that the Philippines can truly be a bright, shining example of open government to the world. In Shaa Allah!

Finally, we also have very exciting news: The Philippines has been chosen to host the OGP Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting in 2025! It will be this coming February, and I hope you join us in making this the most dynamic, fruitful, and memorable OGP Regional Summit.

So we have a lot of good news for OGP but we also still have a long road ahead. Let us continue to build on our gains as we pursue the sustainability of our commitments under our 6th PH-OGP National Action Plan. And let's make the most out of OGPinas!: make your voices heard, push for accountability in our government, amplify our collective impact in driving change, and take up space and create space for our fellow Filipinos to participate in our country’s governance.

Sama-sama po tayo sa Bagong Pilipinas kung saan ang gobyerno ay mapagkakatiwalaan at ang mga mamamayan ay pinakikinggan.

At sama sama din po nating isigaw: OG...Pinas!

Muchas gracias, Zamboanga!

Wabillahi Tawfiq Wal Hidaya, Wasalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.

END

To our Guest of Honor, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin;

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court here present;

My colleagues in the Cabinet and fellow government officials;

My co-chair in the Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP), Ms. Aurora Chavez and members of the PH-OGP Steering Committee;

Your Excellencies, members of the Diplomatic Corps;

and to our fellow champions and advocates of open government and good governance;

Assalamu alaikum wa Raḥmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

First, please allow me to express my sincerest gratitude to the Heads of Diplomatic Missions and international organizations accredited to the Republic of the Philippines for generously accepting our invitation. We are celebrating Open Government Week around the world, not just in the Philippines, so being with all of you tonight is a strong sign of our one voice with the community of nations in pursuing open government.

I would also like to thank the Office of the Executive Secretary, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the PH-OGP Steering Committee, the PH-OGP Secretariat, and our National Action Plan commitment holders for their invaluable support in ensuring the success of this event.

As I mentioned, together with the rest of the world, we are celebrating the 2024 Open Government or Open Gov Week. This year's theme is: “Meet the Moment. Raise Ambition. Rise to the Challenge.” We are calling on the open government community of reformers to take action and respond to the Open Gov Challenge. 

The Open Gov Challenge—launched during the OGP Global Summit held in Tallinn, Estonia, in October of last year—aims to accelerate solutions in ten key policy areas of open government, namely access to information, anti-corruption, civic space, climate and environment, digital governance, fiscal openness, gender and inclusion, justice, media freedom, and public participation.

OGP Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sanjay Pradhan noted in his remarks at the Global Summit that to scale up ambitious reforms, we must mobilize stronger leadership inside our partnership and broaden our champions beyond our OGP community. This requires more OGP Heads of State and Ministers to visibly champion open government nationally and globally, mobilize ministries across the whole of government, and strengthen partnerships with key global platforms. 

The role of the Diplomatic Corps in realizing our shared aspiration to make our nations more open, participatory, inclusive, and accountable is crucial. We have already seen this when the Philippines joined other countries in founding the United Nations in 1945, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967, and the OGP in 2011—all of which have significantly contributed to addressing global pressing concerns and have cemented their place as vital multilateral institutions.

Diplomacy, as you know, is instrumental in achieving national development goals. In the Philippines, it was essential in achieving a lasting solution to the recurring conflict in Mindanao and has likewise played a role in promoting economic stability and security across different administrations. Certainly, it will be vital in pursuing a genuine open government in the country.

As such, the PH-OGP has been working hard to lay solid foundations for open government locally and internationally. This is why we brought one of the biggest delegations to the 2023 OGP Global Summit, with delegates not just from the Executive Branch but from all three branches of government, including the Supreme Court.

At this Global Summit, we are very proud that no less than OGP CEO Pradhan recognized the Philippines as “a trailblazer in open governance not only in Asia but also within the Partnership.” 

While the Philippines is a founding member of the Open Government Partnership, with our participation dating back to 2011 or over 12 years ago, we continue to work hard on being at the forefront of open government. 

Under this Administration, at the initiative of DBM and with the immense support of our president, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (PBBM), we have institutionalized—for the first time—the PH-OGP through the issuance of Executive Order No. 31. Our profuse thanks to our President who is dedicated to making open government a vehicle for transformation of the Administration. This marked a historic feat for good governance in the country, paving the way for our Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches—despite being independent of each other—including our constitutional offices, to synchronize and complement open government initiatives.

As a testament as well to the Administration's commitment to open government, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) identified OGP as a key mechanism in deepening participatory governance in the country’s socioeconomic transformation blueprint, the Philippine Development Plan 2023 to 2028. This initiative was strongly commended at the OGP Global Summit.

To give life to this strategy and put public participation in action, we broadened the scope of representation in the PH-OGP Steering Committee to 20 members based on emerging global and national open government priorities. I am happy to share that the Committee now includes representatives from the women, youth, environment and climate, and justice sectors—ensuring all voices are heard in the country’s governance.

To bring public participation beyond the Steering Committee, we launched the “OGPinas!”, our flagship nationwide advocacy campaign to strengthen public participation, reaching even the country’s farthest regions. I have personally joined the dialogues with Civil Society Organizations and other sectors through this campaign, and since its launch, we have been to 9 provinces in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and even BARMM, and we have personally engaged with more than 1,500 Filipinos and counting. 

I am also very proud to share that our local advocacy movement has borne fruit: four out of 55 new members of the prestigious OGP Local Program are local government units from the Philippines! And, we acknowledge the mayors of these LGUs who are here with us tonight. Let us give them a big hand! They are from Quezon City, Tagbilaran, the municipality of Larena, and Baguio City (Borongan and Cotabato have been members from way back). So Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and BARRM are well represented.  

Alongside these, in fulfillment of the requirement of the OGP to produce a National Action Plan co-created with citizens, we have raised the bar, and instead of just producing a National Action Plan for one year, we completed the country’s first-ever medium-term action plan on open government through a highly consultative process, involving even children and the youth. This was a groundbreaking move, but we pushed for this because it ensures the sustainability of our commitments. I am proud that we now even have the Judiciary as a commitment holder—thanks to our dynamic Chief Justice as well, who is here with us tonight in full support of OGP—promoting open and accessible justice institutions.

At the DBM, we are also giving life to OGP by practicing participatory budgeting. I am pleased to report that 75 municipalities nationwide will receive access to safely managed and resilient water supply and sanitation services through the Support and Assistance Fund to Participatory Budgeting. The unique facet of this assistance fund is that the beneficiaries will be identified not by the government but by CSOs, attesting to the DBM's commitment to the OGP principle of citizens' participation as we deliver concrete benefits for our local governments.

In addition, we have localized access to information in 61 local governments and developed accessible means for the public to request information from 570 government agencies through the Freedom of Information Acceleration Program.

This is reflected in the country’s strong performance in the latest Open Budget Survey, which has positioned the Philippines within the top 30 among over 120 participating countries and a leader in the ASEAN Region in budget transparency. 

To further strengthen accountability and ensure transparency, we will be guided by our Digital Transformation Roadmap, which promotes digitalization in fiscal-related government processes and data governance, thereby future-proofing our Public Financial Management system. In line with our 6th PH-OGP National Action Plan, we are implementing several digitalization projects, including Project DIME or the Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation Project, which utilizes existing technologies such as satellites, drones, and geotagging to compare fund utilization with actual project completion status.

At the OGP Global Summit in Estonia, one of my presentations that got the most applause and positive feedback was when I said that we are working on a new procurement system wherein we will enable public participation at all levels of the procurement process. I am happy to share that as of last week, or May 22 to be exact, with just a few months since the Global Summit, the New Government Procurement Act which I mentioned, has been ratified by Congress.

With the hard work as well of our DBM team, with our Procurement Service and our Government Procurement Policy Board, which I likewise Chair, our 20-year-old Government Procurement Reform Act has finally been updated to include a public participation mechanism, wherein observers from the private sector and civil society will now be invited to participate in procurement proceedings. This is a monumental win for efficiency, transparency, accountability, and OGP. To our legislators here today, maraming salamat po.

As you can see, we have been working very hard on OGP. And tonight, I have a big announcement to make: I am so excited to share with all of you that the Philippines has been chosen to host the OGP Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting in 2025! This will be in the first quarter of next year, and we hope to make this the most dynamic, fruitful, and memorable OGP Regional Summit. We hope that our Diplomatic friends will give us their full support for this gathering of OGP member nations in the region. 

We believe that good governance and open government have been important drivers of economic growth and development, not only in the Philippines but across Asia and the Pacific Region. With your support, we intend to leverage this, together with our vast experience in open government as evidenced by our accomplishments, emphasizing the importance of diplomacy to foster dialogue, peer-to-peer exchange, and transformational collaborations within the Partnership and beyond.

We have accomplished a lot for open government in recent years. Hence, imagining the greater heights that we will achieve and the potential impact that we will create through the OGP gives us hope for a better and brighter future. 

And so, circling back to this week’s theme, in the spirit of diplomacy and camaraderie, let us meet the moment, raise ambition, and rise to the challenge—TOGETHER.

We hope to see you all at the Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting! For now, please enjoy the evening, and let's celebrate our OGP wins!

I am confident that together, as Bagong Pilipinas, we will ensure that we remain a great example and a leader in OGP—in Asia and the Pacific and in the community of nations. In Shaa Allah. 

Wabillahi Tawfiq Wal Hidaya, Wasalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.

Maraming salamat po. Mabuhay ang OGP! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

My heartfelt greetings and warmest welcome to our fellow champions of open government and good governance!

Assalamu alaikum wa Raḥmatullahi wa Barakatuh. 

First, I would like to thank the Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP) Secretariat, headed by no less than DBM Assistant Secretary Rolando U. Toledo; PH-OGP Steering Committee Members; our commitment holders; representatives from the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM); our development partners; Mr. Christoph Wagner, our Head of  Cooperation of the European Union (EU) delegation to the Philippines; Dr. Selva Ramachandran, our Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); fellow reformers; policy experts; youth leaders; and civil society advocates for joining us in this endeavor and making this event a success.

All across the globe, we are facing a web of crises in the form of immense economic challenges, inequity, geopolitical shifts, a growing climate crisis, and the additional layers of complexity brought by new and emerging technology. 

Despite this, a ray of hope shines through with the government and civil society working together to co-create ambitious and impactful reforms that transform our communities through the Open Government Partnership (OGP). And so, for this year’s Open Gov Week, we are called to “Meet the Moment. Raise Ambition. Rise to the Challenge.”

We meet the moment when we maximize our engagement in government decision-making. As reformers, it is upon us to take action against the perceived ills of our society, initiate change, and mobilize our fellow citizens to do the same. We must take advantage of the available platforms and use our voices, skills, and resources to the fullest extent. 

In October 2023, with the valuable support of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine Information Agency, we launched our flagship open government nationwide advocacy campaign to strengthen public participation, “OGPinas!” And I am happy to share that in just seven months, we have already engaged 1,500 Filipinos from several provinces, cities, municipalities, and CSOs nationwide, encouraging everyone to inculcate the values of open government. 

Best of all, we established the Support and Assistance Fund to Participatory Budgeting, making public participation in government a reality, as this will give 75 municipalities across the country access to safely managed and resilient water supply and sanitation services, but it will be the CSOs themselves who will identify the beneficiaries. 

At PH-OGP, this is how we meet the moment.

Further, according to the OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline concerning key areas of open government.” Hence, it is our commitment that we will achieve demonstrable improvements in the ten open government policy areas, thereby strengthening democracies and improving communities. 

I am confident that we will achieve this as the first thing we did when I became OGP Chair was we institutionalized the PH-OGP—thanks to our President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.—through Executive Order No. 31. Through this, we now have not only a whole of government but a whole of open government approach: the Judiciary became a commitment holder in the 6th PH-OGP National Action Plan—the country’s first-ever medium-term national action plan on open government—and the members of the Senate have likewise expressed full support for our shared cause. 

We have also welcomed a new set of non-government members to the PH-OGP Steering Committee, with a broader scope of representation by including representatives from the women, youth, environment and climate, and justice sectors. Relatedly, in today’s program, we will recognize our civil society changemakers—previous Steering Committee members who have been instrumental in laying the foundations of a strong and inclusive community of open government reformers.

And of course, we are also very proud of our four additional Local Government Units—Baguio City, Quezon City, Municipality of Larena, and Tagbilaran City—which have raised their ambition for open government and made it to the prestigious OGP Local Program.

Finally, we note that the ten open government policy areas were also the highlight of the Open Gov Challenge launched during the 2023 OGP Global Summit held in Tallinn, Estonia, which we attended and for which the Philippines sent one of the biggest delegations. Likewise, this is the challenge before us in this year’s Open Gov Week and the challenge we at the PH-OGP have been actively responding to.

As you can see, we have accomplished a lot for PH-OGP in recent months. And it warms my heart to see that more than meeting the moment, we have attested to the vibrancy of the open government movement and civic space in the Philippines. More than raising ambition, we have raised the quality of discussion on the country’s governance. And more than rising to the challenge, we have made significant strides to uplift the lives of our fellow Filipinos as represented in each of our sectors. 

What remains now is for us to continue, if not surpass, what we do; be steadfast in our pursuit of a genuine open government; and realize our vision for a Bagong Pilipinas—a nation with an open government that meets the moment, raises ambition, and rises to the challenge.

Thank you very much.

Wabillahi Tawfiq Wal Hidaya, Wasalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.

To our host, led by US-ASEAN Business Council Mission Lead, Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director Brian D. McFeeters, and Mission Co-Lead and IBM Asia Pacific Vice President Stephen William Braim; 

Distinguished leaders and members of the business community;

A pleasant afternoon to all.

Assalamu alaikum wa Raḥmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

First, I express my utmost gratitude to the US-ASEAN Business Council for your invaluable contributions in facilitating dialogue, promoting trade and investment, and enhancing cooperation between the United States and ASEAN nations, including the Philippines. Your assistance and support throughout the decades have truly helped us time and again to achieve, regain, and maintain solid financial footing amid global and domestic challenges.

We do hope to further cement the Philippines’ position as a strategic trading and investment partner of the United States. In spite of our long-standing relationship, there is always a vast headroom for our economic partnership to grow even more extensively, especially over the coming years.

So, allow me to underscore the compelling reasons why strengthening our partnership and investing in the Philippines is the most strategic move US investors and business partners can make.

Sustaining the Country’s Growth Momentum

The Philippines remains a frontrunner among emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region, with its solid macroeconomic fundamentals and sound policymaking.

In fact, for the first quarter of 2024, the Philippine economy continued to expand by 5.7 percent, the same as Vietnam's, and performed even better than China (5.3 percent), Indonesia (5.1 percent), Malaysia (3.9 percent), and Singapore (2.7 percent), sealing our position as one of the fastest-growing economies in this dynamic region.

Clearly, we have the momentum for growth. Even Multilateral organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) affirm the resilience of the Philippine economy, giving us the highest growth outlook for 2024 at 6.0 percent among countries with similar credit ratings, such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.

Medium-Term Fiscal Program

On the fiscal front, the Philippines remains committed to fiscal consolidation efforts, including cutting the deficit, albeit in a more practical, sustainable, and strategically paced manner. The government’s track record of fiscal prudence, as shown by improvements in the quality of expenditure and relatively modest debt ratios over the past decade, strongly supports our fiscal consolidation process to reduce the deficit gradually.

Attesting to this, the deficit will gradually decline from 5.6 percent in 2024 to 3.7 percent in 2028. This will provide the necessary fiscal space to support the implementation of the government’s expenditure priorities aligned with the 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda and Philippine Development Plan 2023 to 2028.

FY 2024 National Budget

To support the implementation of the government’s expenditure priorities, the Php 5.768 trillion National Budget for this year was carefully crafted to ensure that programs and projects aligned with the country’s development goals are sufficiently funded and prioritized.

That’s why more than half of the national budget—a total of 67.5 percent—was allocated for social and economic services.

The Social Services sector has received the highest budget allocation since 2007, with Php 2.1 trillion, or 36.7 percent of the national budget for this year. The bulk of this will support programs that promote human capital development by revitalizing education (Php 983.5 billion), promoting quality healthcare (Php 322.3 billion), and strengthening social protection (Php 449.1 billion).

Meanwhile, the Economic Services sector received the second highest allocation, with Php 1.78 trillion, or 30.8 percent of the budget. This allotment will also fund the Agriculture and Agrarian Reform sector with Php 235.06 billion to support the administration’s vision of making agriculture the primary source of our food security.

We will also scale up sustainable and green investments that propel economic transformation for a prosperous and resilient society. As such, Php 457.41 billion has been allocated to support climate change adaptation and mitigation measures aligned with the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) 2011 to 2028.

Infrastructure Development

Higher investments will also be made in public infrastructure, which is expected to create a multiplier effect on the economy, reduce the cost of doing business, support the creation of quality jobs, and ultimately steer the economy towards sustainable economic growth. Hence, we are determined to maintain infrastructure spending at 5.0 to 6.0 percent of GDP annually until 2028.

For this year, we have allocated 5.7 percent of GDP or Php 1.51 trillion for the Build-Better-More Infrastructure Program. This is intended for the construction and rehabilitation of physical infrastructure such as roads, railways, flood control infrastructure, and buildings all over the country. It is likewise intended for social infrastructure such as school buildings, hospitals and health centers, and water supply and irrigation systems.

Public-Private Partnerships

To fund these critical infrastructure projects, we are currently mobilizing diverse and innovative financing solutions, including strategic co-investments with the private sector through Public-Private Partnerships or PPPs. By partnering with the private sector, we hope to boost financing and harness the sector’s advanced technical expertise in transforming the Philippine economy.

And I am happy to share that private sector participation is now made faster and easier with the recent enactment of the new PPP Code and the recent signing of its Implementing Rules and Regulations. The new PPP Code will further simplify the evaluation process and create a unified system for investors to refer to when engaging in PPP projects.

But even with a simplified evaluation process, the quality and inclusivity of PPP projects will not be compromised. Hence, we have also integrated gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) requirements, as well as climate change and environmental standards, as non-negotiable preconditions for approving PPP projects. This shall ensure that the PPP projects are gender-responsive and climate-resilient.

Attesting to this, we are proud to share that just last March, we signed a Concession Agreement with SMC-SAP & Company Consortium for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) PPP project, making it the first PPP project to be approved since the new PPP Code was passed into law last December. The landmark project also sets the benchmark for efficiency for other pipeline projects as the fastest-approved PPP proposal in Philippine history–evaluated in just six weeks by the national government.

The newly approved PPP project aims to improve the overall passenger experience in NAIA through modernized terminals, optimized airport capacity, and reliable operations. This will enable airport capacity to significantly increase to 62 million passengers per year from 35 million, encouraging tourism and enhancing mobility. This is a testament to the administration’s commitment to promoting world-class air transportation infrastructure.

Aside from the NAIA-PPP Project, we currently have 48 big-ticket infrastructure projects to be undertaken through PPPs. Nonetheless, we have an enticing selection of investment prospects for the private sector, featuring 185 big-ticket infrastructure projects in physical connectivity, water resources, agriculture, health and education, power and energy, and digital connectivity. Rest assured, as we are now under the banner of Bagong Pilipinas, you can expect nothing less than speed and efficiency in the handling of your investments when you partner with the Philippines.

Aside from investing heavily in implementation-ready infrastructure flagship projects, we are also pursuing game-changing budget reforms that promote digital transformation and open governance.

Digital Transformation

To this end, we are determined to fully digitalize and harmonize our Public Financial Management (PFM) systems and policies, beginning with the adoption of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) across all government agencies.

In this pursuit, the DBM, in partnership with the Asian Development Bank, conducted a workshop series and regional consultation workshops dedicated to developing the Philippine PFM Reforms Roadmap 2024 to 2028. This roadmap is targeted to be endorsed to the Office of the President by June 2024.

We will also launch a Digital Budget Management Roadmap, which we will be implementing in a phased manner, starting with Project TINA or the Technical Innovations in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) Application Project, which aims to replace the existing NEP generation tool, resolve pain points across DBM’s Budget and Management Bureaus, and boost operational efficiency. Ultimately, its goal is to create a unified system to automate the budget process between the Executive and the Legislative branches.

This shall be complemented with Project Marissa, which utilizes blockchain technology to enhance the management of critical data such as allotment release orders and other DBM records in public finances. 

I am also very proud of the revival of Project DIME or the Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation Project, which shall use existing technologies such as satellites, drones, and geotagging to monitor infrastructure projects while encouraging citizen feedback.

On a larger scale, we will harmonize the policies and guidelines in the government's IT activities through Project MITHI, or the Medium-term Information & Communications Technology Harmonization Initiative, in partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the National Economic and Development Authority.

Procurement Reforms

Moreover, the DBM is also advocating for amendments to the decades-old Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA) to make public procurement more attuned to the changing times and responsive to the evolving needs of people.

Senate Bill No. 2593, or the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA), has already entered the period of individual amendments which started on May 15, 2024. The NGPA aims to digitalize and streamline the procurement process while paving the way for a greener, more sustainable, transparent, and participatory procurement process. Part of this mission is to establish an electronic Marketplace or e-Marketplace—an online platform where agencies may directly procure supplies and equipment from competent and reputable suppliers.

We will also champion sustainability with green public procurement by encouraging agencies to procure common-use supplies and equipment items with green specifications. And in line with our commitment to promoting transparency and public participation—the basic tenets of open governance that we advocate—we will open our procurement process to the non-government sector by allowing them to participate during procurement proceedings.

Closing

Moving forward, we seek to secure a future-proof and sustainable economy marked by a single-digit poverty rate, manageable debt, more quality jobs, and improved public service delivery.

This means that by 2028, we hope to lift about 14 million Filipinos out of poverty, invest more in our very young and well-educated population, implement 185 infrastructure projects, and cut debt to 55.9 percent.

However, we recognize that we can only achieve this through a whole-of-nation approach, with our partners in the US-ASEAN Business Council and all of you leading corporations in the business community playing a crucial role in this endeavor.

As the Philippines moves towards achieving its Agenda for Prosperity, we hope to likewise see greater economic engagement between our two countries. I hope you will continue to be valuable partners of the Philippines. I am confident that together, we can promote economic expansion and open a wide range of opportunities towards a Bagong Pilipinas that we all aspire for.

Thank you very much.

Wabillahi Tawfiq Wal Hidaya, Wasalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.