Global budget network ranks PCIJ
No.1 ‘budget monitoring tweeter’

HANDS DOWN, the Philippines is among the world’s top social-networking sites.

And thanks in no small measure to the Netizens of this beloved nation, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) is happy to be ranked No. 1 among over a hundred “budget monitoring tweeters” working with the International Budget Partnership (IBP) network based out of Washington, DC.

The good news came out in a blog that the IBP posted on Monday, Sept. 3, 2012.

The IBP said the Twitter sites were ranked “on the basis of an index that multiplies followers by number of tweets.” Only organizations with more than 500 followers were considered.

The survey focused on country-based civil society organizations; individuals and international organizations were not included.

The IBP works with an international network of civil society organizations “to use budget analysis and advocacy as tools to improve governance and reduce poverty.”

It conducts a global “Open Budget Initiative” survey of transparency and access to budget documents, as well as citizen participation in the budget processes of governments, every two years. The PCIJ has served as the OBI research team in the Philippines since 2006.

“If you want to fight poverty, you need to care about government budgets,” the IBP says about its work. “As the specific plans for how public funds will be raised and spent, budgets are governments’ most powerful tool to meet the needs and priorities of a country and its people.”

Here’s the IBP blog:

Top Ten Budget Monitoring Tweeters
Posted on September 3, 2012 by Albert van Zyl

The International Budget Partnership is proud to announce the top ten ranking of tweeting budget monitoring organizations!

1. Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism – @PCIJdotOrg (-)
2. Fundar – @FundarMexico (-)
3. Contas Abertas – @Contas_Abertas (-)
4. Ibase – @Ibasenet (-)
5. Poder Ciudadano – @PoderCiudadano (-)
6. Equal Education – @Equal_Education (-)
7. Haki Elimu – @HakiElimu (-)
8. Idasa – @Idasa (-)
9. Daraja – @DarajaTz (-)
10. Sikika – @Sikika1 (-)