Transparent gains

President Benigno Aquino III’s first official trip to the United States achieved something more than the obligatory ceremonial visit of a new president to a key ally and a reaffirmation of the historical, geopolitical and economic ties. Although there was no one-on-one meeting between him and US President Barack Obama, the two leaders sat side by side during the launch of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a new multilateral initiative led by Obama and Brazil President Dilam Rousseff to fight corruption, promote transparency, empower citizens and tap new technologies to strengthen governance. Aside from the United States, Brazil and the Philippines, the other countries in the OGP steering body are Indonesia, South Africa, Norway, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

The Philippines’ membership in the OGP head committee should indicate the new healthy regard for the country under the Aquino presidency. Since Mr. Aquino took office a little more than a year ago, the country has gotten four positive ratings, a big difference from the one upgrade and six downgrades during the almost 10 years of the previous Arroyo presidency. Moreover, the Philippines was ranked 75th in the World Economic Forum’s 2011-2012 Competitiveness report, 10 notches above its previous ranking.

US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. made it clear that Philippine participation in the OGP is a signal of international confidence in the country. He said even Budget Secretary Florencio Abad has been invited by Obama to the White House twice—in January and July—to take part in the OGP. “We are very proud to be able to align ourselves with an honest government.”

The OGP Steering Committee membership puts substance in the Aquino administration’s economic diplomacy. Too often, presidential trips are graded according to the size and heft of the investments and pledges they reap for the country, giving credence to the mocking remark made by Richard Armitage many moons ago regarding Philippine conditions on extending the bases treaty: “The United States does not conduct its diplomacy beside a cash register.” Since then, economic ties between the two countries have plodded on, the cash register ringing sometimes merrily, sometimes blandly. But Philippine participation in a new global initiative to foster transparency should promise that the ringing from here on would not be hollow and bereft of gains where they should matter: transparent and healthy business and investment regime; a consolidated commitment to democracy; a deepening dimension to open and effective governance; and stronger resolve to ensure that all rewards of commerce would go to people’s development and progress.

Perhaps the new regard for the Philippines was best illustrated when the President became the only head of state allowed to speak in the OGP-related forum, “The Power of Open Government: A Global Discussion,” in New York. Mr. Aquino underscored the importance of governments engaging their people and being open to them, especially in the “age of flux” and advanced communication technologies. There’s now “a profound reexamination of the relationship between governments and their citizens,” as the world economic system was being “reordered” by the political turmoil in the Middle East and the economic turbulence in the United States and Europe. “At the heart of this reexamination is a fundamental reality that governments throughout history have ignored at their peril: Governments exist at the sufferance of their people,” he said.

By putting substance in Philippine economic diplomacy with the United States, the President should now be able to tackle more meaningfully other issues that concern the two countries, especially defense and security. The two countries should, for instance, deal more forcefully and creatively with Chinese muscle-flexing in the Spratlys. Jaime Metzl, an executive of the Asia Society, said the United States and the Philippines should “be strongly allied to each other” since they have “overlapping interests,’’ such as their “deep commitment to the free navigation of the oceans and the seas according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.’’

The Asia Society, which invited the President to speak to its members, seeks to raise the profile of the Philippines which, Metzl noted, was “a critically important country both in Asia and the world.’’ By joining the United States and emerging powers Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa and Mexico in the OGP Steering Committee, the Philippines burnishes its global profile and strengthens its position in dealing with Chinese bullying in the Spratlys.