Ramping Up Results-Based Management in the Philippines

Measuring (and reporting on) performance evidences concern for efficiency and effectiveness: it demonstrates to shareholders and stakeholders that an organization means business; it promotes transparency and accountability; and it helps compete for funds. Above all, it facilitates systematic thinking about three basic questions: Are we doing the right thing? Are we doing it right? How do we know? In the Philippines, efforts to improve public sector management have been deployed from the late 1980s, aiming to ensure that development results are achieved for the Filipino people.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), for one, has partnered with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) unremittingly. In 2003, regional technical assistance for supporting the sector approach and results-based management in ADB operations developed capacity in DBM with early work on results-based budgeting, notably development of a comprehensive Organizational Performance Indicator Framework (OPIF). The OPIF provided a common set of quality standards for achieving and reporting outputs and outcomes from public spending. In 2005, technical assistance for harmonization and managing for results helped the Philippines operationalize commitments reflected in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. In 2008, technical assistance for harmonization and development effectiveness delivered more coordinated and accountable management of the implementation of the Philippines' commitments under the Paris Declaration, as well as the Accra Agenda for Action. Significantly, that technical assistance mainstreamed development effectiveness priorities in cabinet cluster action plans—this at the level of Secretary. It also gathered the fruits of previous investments in Results-Based Management Framework in the Philippines: A Guidebook, which articulates the entire results-based management framework of the Philippines.

In 2013, a milestone was reached when DBM refined OPIF; revised major final outputs and performance indicators; and restructured programs, projects, and activities toward the FY2014 National Expenditure Program, worth P2.268 trillion.