President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has institutionalized the Centralized Open Monitoring Platform for Appropriations and Spending Statistics (COMPASS) Portal to strengthen transparency and accountability in spending government funds.
This is under Executive Order 126, in which Marcos said the COMPASS Portal shall serve as the government’s unified, publicly accessible digital platform for information on government budgets, expenditures, procurement, program and project performance, and other transparency-related data.
“The Portal shall promote transparency, accountability, and public participation by providing timely, reliable, and user-friendly access to government financial and performance information across the budget cycle,” the directive said.
The Department of Budget and Management launched COMPASS in June as a searchable platform that allows the public to track government expenditures by agency, funding source, purpose, and fiscal year.
EO 126 allows COMPASS to use blockchain and other emerging technologies to help ensure the integrity, security, and reliability of government financial information.
The portal may also be linked with existing government financial, procurement, monitoring, and digital systems such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System, the Budget and Treasury Management System, the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System, the Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation, and the E-Gov PH App.
All concerned national government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or -controlled corporations and government financial institutions, were ordered to submit and regularly update information on the COMPASS Portal.
Meanwhile, local government units were also encouraged to use the portal.
Information that can be disclosed in the portal includes the financial and implementation status of government programs and projects, and procurement and other transparency-related information generated throughout the national budget cycle.
It also covers programs and projects funded through public-private partnerships and foreign-assisted programs, as long as they involve public funds coursed through national government agencies or other relevant government mechanisms.
Information prohibited from public disclosure by law, including data that could compromise national defense and security or violate the Data Privacy Act.
The DBM will lead the implementation and management of the COMPASS Portal, with support from the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Department of Finance.
EO 126 also created the COMPASS Council, which shall oversee the implementation and continued improvement of the portal and monitor agencies’ compliance.