The Good Governance Website is an initiative of the National Economic and Development Authority (now known as the ‘Department of Economy, Planning and Development’ or DEPDev) Governance Staff to monitor the country’s performance in relation to various international indices that measures performance related to the governance and administration of justice sectors.

At present, there is no singular website that showcases the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) under Governance and Administration of Justice including its accompanying documents—Results Matrix and Public Investment Program—as well as the analysis on these sectors’ challenges and ways forward.

Given the DEPDev’s mandate of formulating the PDP and monitoring its development targets, and the role of the DEPDev-Governance Staff as Secretariat to the Inter-Agency Committee on Good Governance, the Governance Staff developed a Good Governance Website that will regularly track and monitor the status of the good governance strategies as initially indicated in the PDP-RM under said sector of concern.

For easier access and reference, the website also contains brief analyses, links and resources to various existing governance indicators such as the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) and the Open Government Partnership (OGP), among others.

Section 3 of Republic Act (RA) No. 12145 reorganized the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev), the government’s primary economic and planning agency.

While undergoing reorganization and pending the Department of Budget and Management’s approval of its new organizational structure and staffing pattern, the DEPDev shall retain the existing organizational structure of the NEDA.

Under DEPDev’s organizational structure, the Governance Staff (GovS) is lodged under the  Office for Policy and Planning Group.  The key responsibilities of the GovS are the following:

1. Develop guidelines and provide technical staff support in the preparation, monitoring and assessment of the governance framework of the national development plan;
2. Conduct policy reviews on governance and institutions development;
3. Conduct studies on translating universal governance concepts of accountability, transparency into practical terms more suitable to the Philippine setting;
4. Develop/Enhance governance indicators to better keep track of plan and policy implementation and gauge agency performance;
5. Conduct short term assessment or rapid appraisal of governance-related issues/concerns in the public sector and suggesting concrete measures to address them;
6. Conduct policy-oriented research in order to come up with recommendations to change/modify existing policies or programs or adopt other interventions;
7. Provide technical assistance in terms of preparing think papers, position papers and policy advice on emerging governance issues;
8. Provide representation to the various councils, technical working groups and inter-agency committees concerned with the governance sector; and
9. Provide technical and secretariat support to the Inter-Agency Committee on Good Governance and the DBCC Subcommittee on the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Staff is divided into three divisions with the following functions:

Administrative Governance Division

1. Provide technical staff support in coordinating the formulation of national plans, policies and projects related to public sector governance and public administration reforms; integrity, anti-corruption, and transparency; participatory governance; digital governance and e-governance;
2. Conduct studies on issues affecting implementation of plans, policies and projects related to the aforementioned subsectors;
3. Evaluate and reviews proposed programs and projects related to administrative governance;
4. Monitor administrative governance subsector performance using an appropriate performance indicator system;
5. Provide technical assistance to concerned DEPDev Sector Staffs and DEPDEv Regional Offices (DROs), and relevant government and donor agencies in the identification, development and evaluation/prioritization of programs and projects of the aforementioned subsectors;
6. Conduct policy-oriented research to come up with recommendations;
7. Provide technical and secretariat support to the Inter-Agency Committee on Good Governance, the Planning Committee on Governance, and the Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development Goals Technical Working Group on Peace, Security, and Governance;
8. Provide representation to the various councils, technical working groups, and interagency bodies concerned with the aforementioned subsectors; and
9.  Perform other related functions as maybe assigned by the Director and Assistant Director.

Political Governance Division

1. Provide technical staff support in coordinating the formulation of national plans, policies and projects related to judicial reforms, electoral reforms and constitutional reforms consistent with national and sectoral development goals, objectives and strategies;
2. Provide policy recommendation on socioeconomic and development matters, including culture and values, justice, human rights, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG);
3. Evaluate and conduct studies on issues affecting the implementation of plans, policies and projects related to judicial, electoral and constitutional reforms, and recommend solutions thereto;
4. Evaluate and review proposed programs and projects in the political governance sub-sector in coordination with the DROs and in close consultation with the sectoral agencies concerned;
5. Coordinate the formulation of criteria for the prioritization of programs and projects in the political governance sub-sector;
6. Monitor the political governance sub-sector performance using an appropriate performance indicator system;
7. Provide technical assistance to concerned Staffs and DROs, and relevant government and donor agencies in the identification, development and evaluation/prioritization of programs and projects in the political governance sub-sector;
8. Provide representation to the various councils, technical working groups and interagency committees concerned with the political governance sub-sector; and
9. Perform other related functions as maybe assigned by the Director and Assistant Director.

Economic Governance Division

1. Provide technical staff support in coordinating the formulation of national plans, policies, and projects related to competition, regulatory efficiency, and other related structural reforms that create an enabling environment for open, transparent, competitive, and sustainable markets;
2. Provide technical and secretariat support to various inter-agency bodies on the above-mentioned sectors where DEPDev is designated as Chair or Secretariat such as the DBCC Subcommittee on the SDGs and the Planning Committee on Competition and Regulatory Efficiency
3. Evaluate and conduct studies on the issues affecting the implementation of plans, policies and projects, related to the above-mentioned sub-sectors and recommend solutions thereto;
4. Evaluate and review proposed programs and projects in the above-mentioned sub-sectors in coordination with the DEPDev Sector Staff, DROs, and in close consultation with the sectoral agencies concerned;
5. Monitor the aforementioned performance system using an appropriate performance indicator;
6. Provide representation to the various councils, technical working groups, and interagency bodies concerned with the aforementioned subsectors; and
7. Perform other related functions as may be assigned by the Director and Assistant Director.

Rule of Law and Fairness

Adherence and promotion of human rights and the rule of law is the foundation for human well-being, social justice and equitable socioeconomic development.

Institutions must ensure that laws and policies are supportive of international human rights norms, standards and commitments, equally and consistently enforced, and independently adjudicated.

Inclusiveness

Development needs to be both inclusive and sustainable. Achieving these will require institutions to create enabling, gender-responsive, non-discriminatory and unbiased environments which will provide equitable opportunities for everyone to contribute in a meaningful way and equally benefit from inclusive growth and socioeconomic development.

Participation, Openness and Transparency

The Philippine Constitution espouses the right to effective and reasonable participation in all levels, as well as the public’s right to information on matters of public concern.

Public participation and stakeholder engagement builds trust and credibility and a sense of ownership and collective responsibility for decisions made.

Institutions maximize public participation and stakeholder engagement by creating enabling mechanisms for dialogue and collaboration. Through timely and appropriate disclosure, ease of access to relevant information and user-friendly mechanisms for public scrutiny and effective feedback, institutions ensure an engaged and well-informed citizenry.

Performance-Orientation and Accountability

High performing public sector organizations are results-based and outcomes-focused.

They ensure effective, efficient and responsive implementation of programs, projects and initiatives. They foster innovation, promote continuous learning and change, embed appropriate tracking, assessment, knowledge and experience-sharing mechanisms and processes.

Leadership and Stewardship

Effective leadership is the cornerstone of good governance.

Institutions require leaders with strategic vision who will steer and drive organizational performance, inspiring a sense of purpose and direction. They set the climate for continuous improvement, adaptive and collaborative management. Leading by example, they encourage lawful and prudent use of power, proper and judicious use of resources to uphold and promote public interest and well-being.

Ethics and Probity

Upholding public trust and confidence is a key accountability of public sector institutions.

Everyone must act with honesty, integrity, impartiality and uprightness; his/her behavior must embody and exemplify ethical principles, standards and positive values

Service-Orientation and Responsiveness

Meeting client needs, interests and concerns, and serving them with utmost responsibility, loyalty and efficiency is the essence of public service. Public office is a public trust.  It demands answerability for actions and decisions made.

Institutions must create and sustain a culture characterized by high degree of client-focus, ethical professionalism, gender and cultural sensitivity for maximum client satisfaction.

They need to develop robust and appropriate systems, mechanisms and processes to ensure timely, adequate and high quality service, as well as conformance with legal and regulatory requirements.

Across institutions, alignment, coherence, and synergies should be promoted and maintained.