Financial citizenship: public money is a citizen’s business

Every peso a government spends was first raised from the people, through taxes, fees or borrowing that future taxpayers will repay. Yet for many citizens, the public budget is a document they have never opened.

Financial citizenship is the principle that citizens have a standing interest in public money, and the means to exercise it: budgets published in a form people can read, spending they can follow, and a recognised role in asking questions.

Three questions to ask of any budget

• Where does the money come from, and how much of it is borrowed?
• What share goes to running the office, and what share reaches the public?
• What was promised last year, and was it delivered?

Starting small

The barangay and the city are the best places to begin. Their budgets are smaller, their projects are visible, and the officials are near. A citizen who learns to read one local budget has learned the skill for every other.