It has become common practice in the Phillipines to divert foreign aid intended for disaster relief.  Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has called for greater transparency by filtering aid funds through congress.

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The World Bank has released a disclosure policy approach paper.

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This document invites comments on draft texts for Part 1 – what will be published. It should be noted that further work is still to be done on the precise data definitions, data format, exceptions and thresholds before further consultation in 2010. So comments are not sought on these at this stage.

The World Bank has released an approach paper advocating a shift towards greater transparency through a paradigm shift in the architecture of its disclosure policy.  

The paper highlights limitations of its existing policy, as well as the principles, key elements and implications of the proposed approach.  

The Bank currently specifically defines the categories of information it can disclose.  This approach leaves large gaps, and creates the perception that items not on the list are categorically not eligible for dissemination.