Participatory Budgeting Beyond Data Transparency
Rom M. Benipayo
Emerging Leader 2025
18 March 2026
The conference, organized by the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP)’s Capability Building on Innovative Leadership for Legislative Staff (CBILLS) Program, with the theme “Legislating for Inclusive, Participatory, and Responsive Governance,” could not have come at a more opportune time. As the country faces rising tensions and the government faces stricter public scrutiny following the unravelling of irregularities and corruption on public flood-control projects, the age-old question, “Where do our taxes go?” seems to have been answered in a way no taxpayer would have liked. Funds intended for public infrastructure were allegedly diverted for personal gain, benefiting not the communities but individuals linked to political power or, more notably, the “nepo babies” or children of politicians who flaunt lavish lifestyles on social media. The public, understandably frustrated, has been demanding transparency and accountability, as demonstrated in recent protests and rallies.
It is against this backdrop that one group of the CBILLS scholars from the Senate Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO) offered an interesting and timely initiative–the integration of “Bantay Piso” into the existing Senate Budget Transparency Portal. A representative from the group explained that “Bantay Piso” is a collection of new website features and a budgeting approach that aims to strengthen Participatory Budgeting (PB) and their office’s fiscal oversight role, “not as a seasonal ritual but as a continuous activity.” With five new features, it seeks to achieve the said goals through: 1) public booking for hearings and technical working groups (TWGs); 2) red-flag reporting and pre-session/pre-hearing/pre-briefing question submission; 3) legislative oversight or audit report scrutiny; 4) budget de-jargonizer; and 3) a user-friendly dashboard.
In concurrence with the presenters, studies have shown that PB can reinforce trust towards public institutions and increase the citizens’ understanding and appreciation of the national budget (Corrêa et al., 2014). Citizen engagement can help better identify problems and solutions aimed at minimizing state expenditures (Anessi-Pessina et al., 2020). Therefore, if properly implemented, Bantay Piso has indeed the potential to become an effective accountability tool. One must remain cautious, however, because tools like this are not the “end-all, be-all solution” to a complex goal and could risk becoming merely symbolic compliance if not meaningfully used.
To illustrate this point, it is useful to note that the Philippines already has several comparable safeguards. For instance, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2015-01 laid out guidelines for implementing the Open Government Data, requiring agencies to make their datasets available in machine-readable, open formats and under open licenses (DBM, 2015). It is similar to Bantay Piso which opens and liberalizes data to the public. However, while said Open Government Data is important, it seems to remain insufficient on its own. Barriers such as outdated and complex datasets reduce the quality and usefulness of the information. As Magno (2018) noted, “the weakness of the transparency effort lies on the demand side.” Simply making data available does not automatically ensure its relevance and usefulness. In fact, raw data dumps are often underutilized as they go unread. Agencies that submit and present their data must therefore further provide annotations and effective visualizations. This enables citizens to use the data and participate more actively in decision-making.
Continuous fiscal oversight, the very goal emphasized by the LBRMO, requires not just technological and workflow updates but cultural change. As noted by Bartocci et al. (2022), the final product of PB should include mechanisms that invoke citizen participation in the budget process and channel their preferences. Hence, efforts to address other gaps, such as the digital divide or unequal access to the internet, must also be carried out simultaneously. Partnerships with intermediaries such as the media, academe, civil society, and community-based organizations must be sought and established to usher in support for information dissemination, consultation, and dialogue (Justice and Dülger, 2009). Therefore, the approach to fiscal transparency and accountability should extend beyond tracking financial flows. It should adopt a multifaceted strategy that ensures the government’s commitment to full traceability and integrity of public funds.
Ultimately, this author argues that innovations such as the Bantay Piso must be complemented by structural reforms that address social disparities and restore public trust, especially amidst declining citizen approval and growing distrust toward government institutions.
References
Anessi-Pessina, E., Barbera, C., Langella, C., Manes-Rossi, F., & Sancino, A., Sicilia, M., & Steccolini, I. (2020). Reconsidering public budgeting after the COVID-19 outbreak: Key lessons and future challenges. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 32(5), 957–965. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-07-2020-0120
Bartocci, L., Grossi, G., Mauro, S. G., & Ebdon, C. (2022). The journey of participatory budgeting: A systematic literature review and future research directions. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 89(3), 757–774. https://doi.org/10.1177/00208523221078938
Corrêa, A. S., Corrêa, P. L. P., Silva, D. L., & da Silva, F. S. C. (2014). BigData Congress – Really opened government data: A collaborative transparency at sight. In 2014 IEEE International Congress on Big Data (pp.806–807). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/bigdata.congress.2014.131
Department of Budget and Management. (2015, July 15). National Evaluation Policy Framework of the Philippines (Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2015-1). https://www.dbm.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/Issuances/2015/Joint%20Memorandum%20Circular/JMC_NO.%202015-1_NEDA-DBM_NATIONAL%20EVALUATION%20POLICY%20FRAMEWORK%20OF%20THE%20PHILIPPINES.pdf
Esguerra-Andrada, M. (2025, December 4). Embedding Bantay Piso into the Senate Budget Transparency Portal [Conference presentation]. 2025 CBILLS Conference, Quezon City, Philippines. https://youtu.be/Tldh0kpC__U?si=meOXI7sVOIdlK8cP
Justice, J. B., & Dülger, C. (2009). Fiscal transparency and authentic citizen participation in public budgeting: The role of third-party intermediation. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 21(2), 254–288. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-21-02-2009-B005
Magno, F. A. (2018). E‑Government and Philippine development. Journal of Asia‑Pacific Studies, 32, 153–167. https://doi.org/10.57278/wiapstokyu.32.0_153
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the House of Representatives, the Senate of the Philippines, or the Development Academy of the Philippines.
