Saint Columban College

Graduate School
Pagadian City

Transparency & Accountability in Public Governance

Ac
In Fulfilment of the
Requirements for Trends and Issue in Public Administration-
Master in Public Administration

By:

Viray, Chris Jhon

Declaro, Sphencer John
Panang, Abegail
Acosta, Micah
 Transparency & Accountability in Public Governance

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the importance of open public administration
and several aspects referring to transparency as a crucial principle of administrative
procedure and administrative law as well as how transparency and accountability
impact the value of democracy, citizens’ trust and rule of law. Transparency is a
fundamental requirement for the reliability and integrity of public institutions in order to
promote public trust and public support. Transparency in public administration
guarantees legal assurance and increases the level of legitimacy in decision making
process. The principle of transparency has a direct impact on the accountability of
administration toward the citizens, while citizens are able to get all the information
regarding the work of public administration and also are allowed to get involved in the
process of decision-making. The transparency in public administration has a great
impact in the process of public administration reform and promotes the level of
efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness, as main components of the concept of
good administration.

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 Transparency & Accountability in Public Governance

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 4
2. Accountability 4
3. Transparency 5
4. Public Trust 6
5. Corruption 7
6. Transparency in Public works 7
A. Corruption in Public Works 7
B. Impact of Corruption 7
7. Accountability & Transparency leads to Good Governance 8
8. GOVERNANCE 8
A. Pillars of Good Governance 9
B. Features of GOOD GOVERNANCE 9
C. Impact of Accountability and Transparency 10
9. Implementation Process of Accountability 10
A. Accountable Governance allows people to access any: 10
B. How Civil Society can help in establishing Accountability? 10
10. Civil Society Approach in Establishing Accountability in Administration 11
A. Understanding of Effectiveness 11
B. Process of Accountability & Transparency 12
C. Performance Achieved 12
11. Social Audit 12
A. Principles of Social Audit 13
B. Example of Internal check & external monitoring 13
12. Conclusion 14

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Introduction:
Accountability and transparency are two crucial aspects of government oversight that
ensure ethical engagements. Both of these characteristics are included in the top core
values that describe the personality of a person or an organization. Accountability and
transparency practices have been put in place in most government agencies and are
expected to be upheld, but there remains a shadowed area where these implications fail
to be maintained

I. Accountability
Accountability is the aspect of administrative responsibility through which officials are
held answerable for general notions of democracy and morality as well as for specific
legal mandates. Elected and appointed officials are working directly for the public. Their
wages and benefits are paid by tax dollars. As such, they are required to meet
expectations and remain accountable for the work that they are being paid to perform.
Accountability refers to the obligation on the part of public officials to report on the
process of public resources & answerability for failing to meet stated performance
objectives.
❑ Obligation
❑ Answerability
❑ Require to answer with reason

Figure A:

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Figure B:

II. Transparency
• Transparency is about the sharing of information about government decisions
and activities, good records management and access to information etc.
• There is emerging potential for new forms of conflict of interest involving an
individual’s private interests and public duties.
• Transparency is introduced as a means of holding public officials accountable
and fighting corruption. When government meetings are open to the press and
the public, when budgets and financial statements may be reviewed by anyone,
when laws, rules and decisions are open to discussion, they are seen as
transparent and there is less opportunity for the authorities to abuse the system
in their own interest.
• Transparency is the opposite of privacy; an activity is transparent if all
information about it is open and freely available.
• Citizens expect public servants to serve the public interest with fairness and to
manage public resources properly on a daily basis.
• Fair and reliable public services and predictable decision-making inspire public
trust and create a level playing field for services

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 • The transparency and accountability in public administration are a prerequisite to
public trust.
• Corruption and maladministration in this context could be seen as not only
individual acts but also the results of systemic failure
• Publicized corruption and administrative failure cases have had a major negative
impact on trust in public.

III. Public Trust

Create more institutions to reduce corruption. Increasing citizen access to information
about government programs, activities and performance and informing citizens of their
rights and responsibilities.
An important component of this function is involving more and better training the press
to report on integrity and accountability of public sector entities.
Gaining and keeping public trust must be approached holistically, as the threads of
integrity, transparency and accountability together uphold all public trust.
Integrity refers to “honesty” or “trustworthiness” in the discharge of official
duties, serving as an antithesis to “corruption” or “the abuse of office.”

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IV. Corruption
High corruption levels severely restrict the efficiency of businesses operating in the
Philippines. Extensive bribery within the public administration and vague and complex
laws make foreign companies vulnerable to extortion and manipulation by public
officials. Favouritism and undue influence are widespread in the courts, leading to time-
consuming and unfair dispute resolution, and to an uncertain business
environment. Corruption plagues the customs administration, and fraud routinely occurs
for companies when filing import and export documentation. The Anti-Graft and Corrupt
Practices Act criminalizes active and passive bribery, extortion, abuse of
office and conflicts of interest. Giving gifts, except for gifts of insignificant value given in
line with local customs, is prohibited. Facilitation payments are not addressed by anti-
corruption regulations and private sector bribery is not criminalized. The legislative
framework for fighting corruption is scattered and is not effectively enforced by the weak
and non-cooperative law enforcement agencies.
Corruption can take many forms, and can include behaviors like:
1. Public servants demanding or taking money or favors in exchange for services.
2. politicians misusing public money or granting public jobs or contracts to their
sponsors, friends and families,
3. Corporations bribing officials to get lucrative deals.

V. Transparency in Public Works

In the context of transparency mechanisms, Construction is the most corrupt sector.
Construction infrastructure accounts for a high percentage of government investment
budgets in all countries. Therefore, tackling construction can have a high overall impact
on corruption.

A. Corruption in Public Works

• Risks for corruption in construction exist throughout design, planning,
preparation, contracting and implementation. Risks include bribery, collusion,
deception and abuse of unexposed conflicts of interest.
• To curb financial, environmental and human damage from corruption in
construction, government must assure transparency of preparation, procurement
and execution process and enforce all relevant laws.
• Civil society and the media should monitor public construction projects.

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B. Impact of Corruption
• The impact of corruption goes beyond the corrupt individuals, the innocent
colleagues who are implicated, or the reputation of the organizations they work
for. Corruption erodes the trust we have in the public sector to act in our best
interests. It also wastes our taxes or rates that have been earmarked for
important community projects. A lack of public trust undermines and even
destroys political stability.
VI. Accountability & Transparency leads to Good Governance
Good governance provides a platform that enables the Government to operate
efficiently, effectively and transparently and to be accountable to the public. Primary
Principles of Good Governance include:
1. Public participation in Government
2. Respect for the rule of law
3. Freedom of expression and association
4. Transparency and accountability

VII. GOVERNANCE
Governance means the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions
are implemented (or not implemented). Governance as the manner in which power is
exercise by the government in the management of a country’s social and economic
resources - (CIDA) Governance as the exercise of economic, political and
administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all lever – (UNDP)

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Therefore governance is viewed as comprising the mechanism, processes and
institutions through which citizens and groups.
1. Articulate their interest
2. Exercise their legal rights
3. Meet their obligations and
4. Mediate their differences

Pillars of Good Governance:

✓ Transparency
✓ Accountability
✓ Participation
Good governance is integral to economic growth, the eradication of poverty and hunger,
and sustainable development. The views of all oppressed groups, including women,
youth and poor, must be heard & considered by governing bodies because they will be
most negatively affected if good governance is not achieved

Features of GOOD GOVERNANCE

• UNDP identifies the principle characteristics of effective governance as:

- Political legitimacy & accountability, Freedom of association and participation
- A reliable legal system, Accountability of public service
- Freedom of information expression, Effective & efficient management of the
public sector, Freedom of expression & the role of media

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Impact of Accountability and Transparency
• Enabling People’s Satisfaction
• Ensuring good governance
• Ensuring participation of public
• Eliminating corruption &
• Empowering people

VIII. Implementation Process of Accountability

A. Accountable Governance allows people to access any:

• Information pertaining to any of public authorities
• Photocopies of Government contracts, payment, estimates, measurements of
engineering works, drawings, records books and registers etc.
• Samples of materials used in the construction of any Government project like
roads, drains, buildings etc.
B. How Civil Society can help in establishing Accountability?
• Civil society or civil institutions can be in totality referred to as voluntary, civic
and social organizations or institutions which form the basis of a functioning
society as opposed to the force backed structures of a state (regardless of that
state's political system).

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 • Continuous checks of citizen can help in establishing Accountability.
IX. Civil Society Approach in Establishing Accountability in Administration

A. Understanding of Effectiveness

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B. Process of Accountability & Transparency

C. Performance Achieved

X. Social Audit
• Social audit is an important and participatory evaluation of the performance of
public agency or a programmed or scheme. Social audit enables the Civil Society
to assess whether a public authority lives up to the shared values and objectives
it is committed to.

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 • It can be ensured through transparency and accountability in administration.
A. Principles of Social Audit
• Complete transparency in the process of administration and decision-making
• Right based entitlement for all the affected persons to participate in the process
of decision making and validation.
• Immediate and public answerability of all representatives & functionaries of a
public authority to affected people on relevant actions & inactions.
B. an Example of Internal check & external monitoring
In Primary Health Services
• Attendance of medical officer and other staff
• Field visits & supervisory visits of the PHC staff Stock registers and inventory
of medicines
• No. of Outpatients treated
• No. of Surgeries conducted and their success rate Inspection of immunization
registers & cold chain Inspection of other relevant registers
• Samples of medicines being supplied to patients.
In primary Education
• Teacher Attendance, Registers Pupil Attendance, Registers
• Teaching standards in the schools (Curriculum and daily lessons) Enrollment
and drop-out rate of students
• Student performance (Progress reports) Implementation of Mid-Day Meal
Programmed
• Infrastructure standards in schools (Class rooms, black boards, teaching aids,
toilets etc.)

Conclusion
Transparency & Accountability will always be there with sustainable human
development and good governance. Good governance is an ideal which is difficult to
achieve in its totality. Very few countries and societies have come close to achieving
good governance in its totality If the Good Governance is established the impact of
Transparency and Accountability will autonomic ally be exposed.

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