Transparency Seal

National Budget Circular 587 issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on January 3, 2022, re-echoes the requirement for departments/agencies to implement and comply with the transparency provision under Section 102 of the RA No. 11639 or the FY 2022 General Appropriations Act. Section 102 which is the Transparency Seal provision pertinently provides:

Sec. 102. Transparency Seal. To enhance transparency and enforce accountability, all agencies of the government shall maintain a Transparency Seal to be posted on their websites. The Transparency Seal shall contain the following (i) the agency's mandates and functions, names of its officials with their position and designation, and contact information; (ii) approved budgets and corresponding targets, immediately upon approval of this Act; (iii) modifications made pursuant to the general and special provisions in this Act; (iv) annual procurement plan/s and contracts awarded with the winning supplier, contractor or consultant; (v) major activities or projects categorized in accordance with the 0+10 point socioeconomic agenda and their target beneficiaries; (vi) status of implementation, evaluation or assessment reports of said programs or projects; (vii) Budget and Financial Accountability Reports; (viii) People's Freedom to Information (FOI) Manual signed by head of agency, Agency Information Inventory, 2020 and 2021 FOI Summary Report, and 2020 and 2021 FOI Registry; and (ix) annual reports on the status of income authorized by law to be retained or used and be deposited outside of the National Treasury, which shall include the legal basis for its retention or use, the beginning balance, income collected and its sources, expenditures, and ending balance for the preceding fiscal year.

The heads of the agencies and their web administrators or their equivalents shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with this Section.

The DBM shall post on its website the status of compliance by all agencies of the government.

A pearl buried inside a tightly shut shell is practically worthless. Government information is a pearl, meant to be shared with the public in order to maximize its inherent value.

The Transparency Seal, depicted by a pearl shining out of an open shell, is a symbol of a policy shift towards openness in access to government information. On the one hand, it hopes to inspire Filipinos in the civil service to be more open to citizen engagement; on the other, to invite the Filipino citizenry to exercise their right to participate in governance.

This initiative is envisioned as a step in the right direction towards solidifying the position of the Philippines as the Pearl of the Orient - a shining example for democratic virtue in the region.

CDA compliance with Sec. 102 (Transparency Seal) of R.A. No. 10633 (FY 2022 General Appropriations Act)

The Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) is a proactive and responsive lead government agency for the promotion of sustained growth and full development of the Philippines cooperatives for them to become broad-based instruments of social justice, equity and balanced national progress.