Transparency in Action - Municipal Government Reform in the Philippines

Challenge: Local government units in the Philippines struggled with corruption, poor service delivery, and low citizen trust. In our target city of 340,000 people, only 12% of residents believed their government was transparent. Public services were slow, expensive, and often required informal payments to access.  

Our Approach: Lexington Advisory Group worked with the reform-minded mayor to implement comprehensive governance improvements. We didn't just recommend changes—we embedded advisors within city departments to support implementation. Our approach focused on systems that would outlast individual political leaders.  

Implementation: We helped establish digital service platforms allowing residents to access permits, licenses, and public information online. Citizen feedback mechanisms provided regular input on service quality. We supported the creation of multi-stakeholder oversight committees, including civil society representatives. All city budgets and expenditures became publicly accessible through online dashboards.  

Results: After three years, citizen satisfaction with local government increased from 34% to 78%. Average time to process business permits decreased from 45 days to 8 days. Tax collection improved by 67% as trust increased and processes were simplified. The transparency model is now being adopted by 23 other cities across the country.  

What Made It Work: Focusing on concrete citizen benefits rather than abstract governance principles. When people experience faster, cheaper, fairer public services, they support transparency reforms. Change became self-reinforcing as better services increased citizen engagement.