DBM sets plan for wider budget consultations

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Budget and Management is now laying the groundwork for its planned consultations with civil society organizations starting this year for the 2012 budget process.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said while the DBM is now completing the implementation of the 2010 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and about to commence on the execution of the recently-enacted P1.645-trillion 2011 budget, it has begun work on the 2012 budget to ensure that it will be crafted under an “even more open and transparent process.”

Abad said six departments would be consulting with civil society organizations. These are the Departments of Education, Health, Social Welfare and Development, Public Works, Agriculture and Agrarian Reform.

These departments are tasked to undertake pilot consultations with civil society organizations. The six pilot departments have combined new programmed appropriations of roughly 44 percent of total new programmed appropriations for 2011.

Abad said these steps are being undertaken to ensure that the budget process is more “transparent and open to the public.”

“In formulating the 2012 budget, we will be piloting consultations with CSOs, both at the national and regional level. We will be starting with six critical departments in terms of the impact of their spending in uplifting the lives of Filipinos,” Abad said.

The DBM is set to issue the first budget call for the 2012 national budget in the first week of January. It has also scheduled a budget call forum with all government agencies and corporations on Jan. 6 and 7.

“The budget call will contain a schedule that dedicates February 2011 for CSO consultations at the central offices of the pilot departments and regionally through the Regional Development Councils. The consultation process will include a review of ongoing major programs in terms of their relevance, effectiveness and efficiency. The results of the consultations will be submitted to DBM as part of the pilot departments’ submission of their budget proposals,” he said.

The 2012 budget is expected to be submitted to Congress in July 2011, right after President Aquino delivers his State of the Nation Address. In the past, budget calls have been issued in the second quarter of the year and proposed budgets have been submitted to Congress in August.