Gov’t creating ‘index’ to assess governance situation in PH

The state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is preparing a set of indicators, which the next administration will roll out to improve the quality of public governance in the country. “The national governance index (NGI) is a summary measure reflecting the performance of government, both at the national and subnational levels. The framework will take off from the World Governance Index, but will capture the context and the more granular features of local governance that we deem important,” Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and Neda chief Karl Kendrick Chua told the Inquirer last month.

Commitment under PDP

Chua said the NGI was a commitment under the Updated Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, or the Duterte administration’s medium-term socioeconomic blueprint. Based on the Updated PDP 2017-2022, the NGI “will consider relevant Sustainable Development Goal 16 indicators and other measures of governance and competitiveness,” referring to the United Nations’ goal to achieve widespread peace, justice and strong institutions by 2030.

Chua said the NGI was targeted to be used under the next six-year development plan.

Survey to follow

Neda already started the first phase of the NGI with the development of the Philippine governance statistics operational framework. Bid documents on Neda’s website showed an ongoing procurement for the services of a consultant that would conduct a study to develop this framework. Chua said a pilot survey, the second phase of the NGI’s development, would be conducted next year.

By 2023, the NGI should already be implemented nationwide, Chua said. INQ