MANILA, Philippines — The national government will begin instituting a “bottom-up” approach to the ongoing 2013 budget preparation process that aims to reduce poverty and achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

For the first time in government’s history, Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad said that the 2013 budget preparations will be guided by needs identified at the grassroots level.

In this way, Abad said the 2013 budget will most decidedly be a people-centric budget.

“In the past, the General Appropriations Act (GAA) was crafted from top to bottom, with state leaders and officials exclusively deciding where public funds should go,” Abad explained.

He added that the bottom-up budgeting process will focus on engaging for 300 to 400 of the poorest municipalities identified by the Cabinet’s Human Development and Poverty Reduction (HDPR) cluster.

Abad also said that the DBM will invite an initial set of agencies to spearhead the new approach.

The agencies will combine their respective services in poor communities by taking on the prioritized list of projects and programs and incorporating these into their budget proposals for 2013.

“This new process may likewise require rural development and economic agencies to be responsible for achieving meso-economic indicators of inclusive growth,” he added.

Abad also said that the bottom-up approach will be complemented by the expanded engagement of civil society organizations (CSOs) and people’s groups in the budget process.

At least 12 government departments and six agencies will initiate consultation sessions with CSOs to boost citizen participation in crafting the 2013 budget.

He also said that economic growth in the country must be more inclusive, especially in areas where growth is neither high enough nor sufficiently robust.

“The Aquino Administration is committed to fulfilling its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), on top of which is the target to reduce extreme poverty by half, from 33.1 percent in 1991 to 16.6 percent by 2015,” Abad said.

“We intend to translate the gains of good governance into direct, immediate, and substantial benefits that will not only improve the lot of the poor and marginalized, but empower them as well,” he added.