MANILA, Philippines – In a bid to increase transparency and accountability, the government will ask donor countries and multilateral organizations to post information on foreign aid for Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) victims online.

In a statement, Malacañang said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will give 64 partner countries and 7 organizations access to the government’s Foreign Aid Transparency Hub (FAiTH) website, an online tracker of foreign humanitarian aid.

Originally, only the government could post aid details on the website.

The statement said countries and organizations will be able to log in, manage content and track their pledges.

“Donors will be able to electronically input cash and non-cash pledges, with each successful pledge entry generating a unique transaction ID that can be used to monitor submitted information. Donors will then be able to export each entry as a PDF file, which can be printed and attached as an annex to a Note Verbale to the DFA,” the statement said.

The information submitted by donors and partners will be verified and accounted for by the FAiTH Task Force through electronic alerts sent to the DFA after every input. It will authenticate the input before clearing submission for publication on the portal.

In March, Presidential Spokersperson Edwin Lacierda announced it will update its website to be more accurate amid continuous public interest in relief efforts. The new development aims to show a more comprehensive outlook of the flow of relief since a bulk of the aid pledged by the international community has not gone to government.  (READ: DFA: Most int’l aid won’t be passing through gov’t)

The statement said the website and its improvement is “an embodiment of the Aquino administration’s commitment to enhance mechanisms for transparency.”

“This development brings into the process our partners and friends in the international community—a testament to the importance of monitoring and managing aid, and, more importantly, a testimony to the shared responsibility of holding everyone accountable,” it said.

About a week after Yolanda ravaged the Philippines, the government launched FAiTH on November 14, “an online portal of information on calamity aid and assistance – both in cash and in kind – that are received by the Philippines from other countries, multilateral organizations, and those sent through Philippine embassies abroad.”

It is the DFA that acts as the main agency that coordinates foreign aid, and is the primary source of information for FAiTH. (READ: Foreign aid: Process from donor to beneficiaries) 

The world’s strongest storm, which hit central Philippines on November 8, 2013, claimed more than 6,000 lives and displaced over 4.1 million people. – Rappler.com