'Changes Depend on the Smallest Level of Government'
This excerpt and the accompanying photo are from a short talk given by Quezon City (Philippines) Mayor Joy Belmonte at the Open Government Partnership Global Summit in Vitoria Gasteiz, in the Basque Country.
“In a city as large as ours, with over 3.2 million people, impactful change depends on our smallest level of government… Our villages—our barangay, as we calll them, they are where we provide local service delivery…. They participate in all city making planning policy bodies in our city.
Our 2025-28 action plan to make Quezon city a model of inclusivity and innovation. Following this framework, we are advancing our most critical commitment: institutionalizing participatory budgeting… We are also integrating our centralized data dashboard. This will allow residents to monitor service delivery, track infrastructure spending, thus closing the loop for accountability.
At present, the Philippines is facing one of the most widespread corruption scandals in our history. So, we have an organization called Mayors for Good Governance, a network, led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong of Baguio to ask, swiftly, bring these reforms across the country.
