BEYOND BUDGET
Assalamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
It’s the budget season once more.
For those unfamiliar with the national budgeting process, this involves four distinct yet overlapping phases: budget preparation, budget legislation, budget execution, and budget accountability. This means that, as we implement the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 General Appropriations Act or the National Budget signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (PBBM) last Dec. 30, 2024, and hold agencies accountable over the use of last year’s budget, we also prepare the proposed budget or the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for FY 2026 for deliberation of Congress and eventual approval by the President.
FY 2025 budget execution forum
When PBBM signed this year’s budget, he cautioned all government agencies to exercise maximum prudence; otherwise, we risk increasing our deficit and debt and derailing our development agenda for our country.
To this end, we, at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), gathered Cabinet members, led by Executive Secretary (ES) Lucas P. Bersamin, and other key officials last Jan. 24 to deepen their understanding of the budget process. Topics include key budget terminologies, guidelines on budget execution, and the electronic (e)-marketplace, so they may effectively and efficiently implement their budget.
In his opening remarks, ES Bersamin emphasized that government agencies must not take the discussions lightly as “this budget represents not just numbers on paper but our collective vision for a prosperous Philippines.”
He likewise underscored our country’s role as a leader in advancing open governance – to be true to our commitment when we institutionalized the Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP) to pursue the values of transparency, accountability, and public participation, and as we fulfill our responsibility as a member of the OGP Global Steering Committee. Further, he noted the need to break down silos, foster collaboration by applying a whole-of-government approach, and future-proof our nation through digital transformation, aligning this with our development priorities.
On my part, I shared the guiding principles of the budget execution process to achieve transparency, accountability, and sustainability of our public services, and ultimately for us to stay on track toward an inclusive and sustainable economic transformation despite challenges: spending within our means (fiscal discipline); spending on the right priorities (allocative efficiency); and spending with measurable results (operational efficiency).
FY 2026 budget preparation
On Jan. 27, Monday, the DBM again met with government agency heads that kick-started a series of consultations on the conduct of the FY 2026 Budget Preparation. The event signaled the start of the preparatory stage for the drafting of the proposed budget for next year.
We discussed the parameters and procedures to guide agencies in preparing their proposed budgets and provided the prescribed forms and technical instructions for completing them, as well as the schedule of activities that will be undertaken leading to the submission of budget documents.
In my message, I expressed hope that the agency heads will find time to sit down with their respective technical staff and ensure that the budget proposals they will submit, especially those in Tier 2, or for new and expanded spending, have the corresponding complete documentary requirements.
In addition, I emphasized that the DBM will relaunch the Program Convergence Budgeting (PCB) approach in preparing the FY 2026 NEP. PCB is a budgeting approach that aims to focus government resources on key programs and projects which shall be coordinated in a holistic approach across departments and agencies working towards the same goals. I believe that adopting the PCB’s integrated approach in identifying key needs and priorities is an evidence of a well-planned budget proposal.
As National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan underscored, about 5,000 programs, activities, and projects are registered in the NEDA Public Investment Program system yearly. With this number and given the coordination and information constraints agencies face, overlaps, duplication, or gaps tend to occur, even when they align their proposals with the objectives of the Philippine Development Plan. Thus, I agree with Sec. Balisacan that the PCB can address these.
We also conducted the budget forum for officials and budget officers of the DBM Central Office and Regional Offices, where I encouraged them to continue finding ways to achieve our Agenda for Prosperity despite limited fiscal space and to further improve our budget preparation and execution processes.
The following day, we held the budget forum for national government agencies and government corporations, participated in by more than 700 public financial management (PFM) officers. Here, I reminded our PFM professionals of the President’s directive to ensure that every centavo goes to programs that truly uplift lives, strengthen communities, and secure the future development of the Philippines.
Beyond budget, our government is determined to implement a whole-of-open-government approach toward achieving our Agenda for Prosperity. I encourage every Filipino to participate and engage in the process to ensure that we realize a Bagong Pilipinas that empowers and responds to the needs and aspirations of our people, now and in the future.
(Amenah F. Pangandaman is the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management.)