23 Sept. 2025 – The city government is stepping up efforts to make local infrastructure projects more transparent and accountable through the Cost-Infrastructure Transparency Initiative (CoST) in partnership with the British Embassy.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the collaboration aims to make data on city projects, particularly those related to water security, more open, useful and accessible.
“More than improving data, this is about building trust. Transparency means more than posting figures online. It’s about giving people the tools to see how their money is being used and ensuring infrastructure truly serves the community,” the mayor said.
As part of the initiative, several activities are lined up for the city, namely:
*Mapping and Review where experts will look into how much data on water projects is currently available, check the quality of that information, and review existing policies to see how they support transparency;
*Consultations where stakeholder meetings and focus group discussions will be held with agencies like the PPP Center, local government offices, and water authorities to understand views on transparency and identify potential “champions” who can push the agenda forward;
*Transparency Roadmap where findings will be summarized in a report with clear recommendations on how the city can strengthen data management and improve efficiency;
*New Data Standards where a set of guidelines for publishing information on infrastructure investments will be created; and;
*Training where local officials and staff will undergo training to apply these new standards.
The partnership also plans to enhance the city’s infrastructure transparency portal to transform this into a more interactive platform that can generate meaningful insights, not just raw numbers, for citizens, investors, and oversight bodies.
Apart from this, the city is also exploring the possibility of adopting ISO 37001, an international certification for anti-bribery management systems. Getting certified could take up to 18 months and would require new systems, audits, and training. Experts suggest that the city could start with a limited scope to make the process more manageable.
“With support from the UK Embassy and CoST, Baguio hopes to set an example for other local governments in the Philippines by showing that open data, stronger accountability, and citizen involvement can lead to better infrastructure and more resilient services,” the mayor said.
(CoST), now simply the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative, is a global effort to promote transparency and accountability in public infrastructure by fostering collaboration between government, private sector, and civil society.
By improving transparency, the city hopes to ensure that every peso invested in infrastructure is well spent and delivers real value to residents. ** Aileen P. Refuerzo
