Full Disclosure Policy (FDP) Compliance of the Davao del Norte Province at the FDP Portal

Abstract

The study evaluated the availability of the financial transactions and procurement reports in the government portal of all the 11 Local Government Units (LGUs) under the Province of Davao del Norte which specifically determined the extent of its implementation of e-Governance particularly in implementing the Full Disclosure Policy (FDP) as a practice of transparency. In particular, the assessment was done to verify if the following reports were uploaded in the portal: (a) Budget Reports; (b) Procurement Reports; (c) Special Purpose Fund Reports. Fourteen (14) relevant reports were queried at the portal as accessed at http://fdps.blgs.gov.ph/ from year 2012 to 2013. Results were initially obtained through an assessment done by the researchers in checking into the availability of the inquired reports at the portal. Preliminary findings were triangulated as a group of MPA students verified the initial results. Quantitative tools such as frequency counts, means and percentages were employed to know the available reports. Findings showed that there was an increase of compliance percentage for the LGUs of Asuncion, New Corella, San Isidro and Sto. Tomas while there was a noticeably slight decrease of compliance for the rest of the LGUs. Moreover, Budget Reports were the most complied while Procurement Reports were the least complied. The study concludes that while all LGUs have utilized the portal through submission of the reports, other factors affecting prompt and complete compliance and distance and income classification should be looked into. It is suggested in the study that each LGU should maximize the adoption and utilization of the government portal as a medium in promoting transparency and accountability as a practice of good governance.