Accessible or Illusory Transparency? COVID-19 and Philippine Open Government Data

Abstract

A little over a month after the coronavirus (COVID-19) was declared as a pandemic, the World Health Organization expressed the need for open data to support policies that seek to address COVID-19, even as governments were called upon to facilitate access to data and information. Adopting the transparency framework developed by Fung, Graham and Weil (2007), this study examines ‘laginghanda.gov.ph,’ the official Philippine government website for COVID-19 data, to determine if it serves the open government data (OGD) goals as outlined and identified by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and as agreed under the Open Government Partnership. Using an exploratory research approach, a documentary analysis and content audit of the laginghanda.gov.ph showed that the website did not provide timely data even as the website contained mostly static, general information. Health statistical data could be accessed but it was neither machine readable nor timely; while, financial and economic data were lacking. In other words, the website does not contribute to government transparency and cannot be used to determine the accountability of government agencies. Thus, the author concludes that it fails as a tool for democratization.