PRESIDENT Aquino on Tuesday approved the Good Governance and Anti-corruption Cluster (GGAC) plan for 2012-16, which details measures to curb corruption through greater transparency and accountability in government transactions.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a news briefing that the President, who is  chairman of the Cabinet cluster, approved the plan after a two-hour discussion on the presentation of Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.

“The GGAC plan for 2012 to 2016 was presented by Abad and thoroughly discussed under the chairmanship of the Chief Executive. After two hours of deliberations and discussions, it was approved without objection,” Lacierda said.

He said among the measures provided in the plan is the simplification and integration of various government databases and systems, and to make them more accessible to the public.

Abad said that to promote transparency, all 24 government departments are required to disclose their respective budget information beginning 2012. For local governments units (LGUs), the administration also wants a  policy of full disclosure so that all LGUs would comply with the set disclosure standards by the end of the year.

Abad said that at present, only five departments publish their budget information, and only 17 percent of LGUs have fully complied with full-disclosure standards.

He said the government will expand the operations of its electronic bidding system, the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System, “to include e-bidding functions, electronic bidding functions.”

The budget chief said this will be implemented so when electronic bids are submitted, there is a registry of suppliers and a virtual store where one can shop from the procurement service from the present bulletin board of bid, notices and awards.

“We will also expand the electronic transparency and accountability initiative for lump-sum fund systems,” he said, noting that at present, the system only covers the priority development assistance fund of lawmakers. 

To improve transparency in government transactions, there will be only one portal of government information, the Official Gazette (gov.ph) which will be converted into a “one-stop source of information of government” to be piloted in the first quarter of the year.

“We will also increase public access to information initiatives. So by the first quarter, the cluster will review existing policies and procedures to improve access to information in government,” Abad said.

To improve the government’s anti-corruption drive, the cluster has proposed measures to ensure the speedy resolution of corruption cases by improving the resolution rate of the Department of Justice from its present level of 85 percent; and the increased output of the Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS). 

The administration will also push for the passage of the Whistleblower Protection Law, and strengthening of the Witness Protection Program.  

Abad said that the administration is also pursuing measures to prevent corruption in the government by
strengthening “internal controls in all the departments of the government.”

“In terms of accountability, there is this program for public-resource management where we will further institutionalize zero-based budgeting, medium-term expenditure framework in office,” he said.

Abad added that this year, there will be a Government Integrated Financial Management System, a single-platform for information sharing between the Commission on Audit (COA), the Department of Budget and Management, and the Bureau of Treasury. 

Among the projects under the system is the development of a national payroll system to be developed by the DBM and will be piloted in COA, the DBM and the Department of Finance, which will mean getting one’s salary straight from the Bureau of Treasury, and not from one’s agency.

“At the end of the year, we have to be able to complete this system so that we will have also a single human resource management system,” he said.

“For the first time in the history of this country” the government will have a “manpower inventory system” that will let the public know who among those in government are regular, part-time or contractual employees, he said. 

Abad said another government innovation this year is the use of “cashless purchase cards” similar to debit cards, to be used in purchasing plane tickets or gasoline for public vehicles, for example, and would facilitate an “instant liquidation system.”

He said the government will introduce an online x-ray imaging system at the Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port, and a petroleum inventory system to be piloted at Subic Freeport to address the problem of petroleum smuggling.

In line with its National Justice Information System, Abad said that this year, the government will have a criminal database system covering the National Prosecution Service, the National Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Immigration. By 2015, it is hoped to include the National Police, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the judiciary and related agencies. 

Abad also said the government will pursue a national competition policy and work for the enactment of an Antitrust Law. 

He said that to increase private sector engagement with the government, this year, the government will double the number of national agencies subject to citizens’ participation in the budget process; and will “institutionalize participation of citizens in the audit of infrastructure projects.”

“This is important innovation because in 2012 we will start the process of bottom-up planning and budgeting process involving about 300 local government units that will produce their own poverty-reduction action plans in time for the drafting of the 2013 budget,” he said.

Abad said the GGAC Cluster plan also includes the establishment of a citizen satisfaction and index system, to be done by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to give a voice to those with complaints about LGU services.

When asked, Abad said efforts to allow the public greater access to government information and transactions would have no bearing on the administration’s commitment to support the passage of the Freedom of Information Act.

He said that the GGAC Cluster plan lays the “infrastructure so that you will have a meaningful freedom of information policy.”

Abad said that during the meeting, the President directed Undersecretary Manolo Quezon of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office to meet with him this week with the Department of Budget and Management and the Executive Secretary to discuss the present status of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill. 

He said the FOI bill will still be pursued because “what you aim to achieve here also is a certain degree of permanence and that is what legislation can provide you with.”  

“It will still be pursued and the President still expresses interest in the legislation,” Abad said.