The first phase of the TAG Project focused on building awareness on the cost of corruption, increasing transparency and accountability in government transactions, and promoting tri-sectoral collaboration to support good governance. Initial work on the national level on anti-corruption advocacy involved partnerships with the Makati Business Club, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Philippine Center for Policy Studies, and Social Weather Stations. Additional partnerships were also forged with the Philippine Governance Forum, Mindanao Business Council, Center for Continuing Legal Education, Procurement Watch, Bantay Katarungan, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, and Transparency International.

Building on the successes of the initial national counter-corruption efforts and an improved overall political environment for counter-corruption reform, the project now focuses at three levels: 1) advocating for national counter-corruption efforts; 2) extending these efforts at the city level in Mindanao; and 3) broadening opportunities for peace and economic development in Mindanao through improved local governance especially in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and its neighboring conflict affected areas.

The project is guided by a Project Steering Committee chaired by the League of Cities, which also includes the Makati Business Club, Mindanao Business Council, Transparency and Accountability Network, and Mindanao Coalition of Development NGOs, Department of Interior and Local Government, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, The Asia Foundation, and the United States Agency for International Development.

At the national level, efforts are focused on maintaining broad civil society and private sector engagement particularly for reforms at the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, Department of Education, Office of the Ombudsman; support for legislation promoting transparency in government transactions; continuous monitoring of public perception on the extent of corruption in government; continuing outreach and information dissemination and periodic advocacy initiatives of the Transparency and Accountability Network. This national level counter corruption advocacy is being implemented in partnership with the Makati Business Club, Ateneo Center for Social Policy and Public Affairs, Social Weather Stations, La Salle Institute of Governance, and Pagbabago@Pilipinas.

At the local government level, seven cities in Mindanao collaborate with private sector and civil society to improve transparency and accountability in government transactions through procedural reform in city government systems. It includes simplifying procedures, reducing monopoly of power and discretion of city employees, and increasing transparency and availability of information to citizens. Public perception on how city governments perform its mandate are measured through the use of scorecards, which guide local chief executives in setting policy directions with respect to promoting transparency and accountability. Capacity-building for technical staff that lend support to process reforms is likewise implemented. The project's major partners for this city-level work are the League of Cities of the Philippines, the Mindanao Business Council, and the Mindanao Coalition of Development NGOs.

In Mindanao municipalities, different activities are being implemented which cover several sectors: municipal governments, civil society organizations, and local resource institutions. At the municipal level, technical assistance is provided to improve local government operations like planning and budgeting, resource mobilization, and organizational development among others. Capacity-building for both civil society organizations and local resource institutions are conducted to increase their level of awareness on local governance and be effective partners of municipal governments. The project's major partners for this effort are the Mindanao State University-Center for Local Governance, Bangsamoro Women Foundation for Peace and Development, Kadtuntaya Foundation, Institute for Strategic Initiatives, Muslimah Resources and Integrated Development Center and the Metro Kutawato Development Alliance.

The Transparent Accountable Governance project has been running since 1999, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development and The Asia Foundation.

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