MANILA, Philippines (PIA) — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced today that funding for proposed projects under the FY 2017 Bottom-up Budgeting (BuB) Program will total P35 billion, up by P10.3 billion from this year’s BuB budget.
Of the P35 billion proposed budget for BuB, funds amounting to P19.7 billion—or more than 50 percent of the total—will be downloaded to beneficiary local government units (LGUs). These are cities and municipalities that have complied with the good governance conditions set in the implementing guidelines of the program. These requirements include compliance with the Good Financial Housekeeping component of the Seal of Good Local Governance and implementation of Public Financial Management (PFM) improvement measures.
Under BuB, LGUs and civil society and community organizations jointly identify priority poverty reduction programs and projects to be included in the proposed national budget.
“For 2017, funding for BuB programs—specifically those that LGUs can implement—will be released directly to local governments. We are moving from agency-implemented BuB projects to more performance-based direct downloads to LGUs. Of course, the release of these funds will depend on the performance of the LGUs,” said Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said.
“Altogether, our goals are three-fold: to include citizens in local budgeting, to strengthen LGU capacity and accountability, and to make the budget process work for the benefit of our communities,” he added.
At present, only P11.7 billion out of the total P24.7 billion BuB budget is downloaded to beneficiary LGUs. The rest of the funds for BuB projects are released to national government agencies that implement the projects.
“The best thing about BuB is that it draws ordinary citizens into the local development planning process. And because communities now have a hand in crafting the local budget, they’re already enjoying better access to basic local government services. At the same time, BuB has urged LGUs to improve their ability to serve their constituents. This is BuB’s legacy, and it should continue,” Tacurong City Mayor Lina Montilla said.
Tacurong is one of the LGUs in the country to receive a P5-million incentive this year for good performance. LGUs that have shown a strong track record in implementing BuB projects are granted a performance incentive of P5 million, which LGUs will use for additional anti-poverty projects. To qualify, an LGU must have completed at least 80% of the previous year’s BuB projects, and at least 50% of the current year’s BUB projects by end-September of this year.
