Enough funds left for next government – DBM

83.5% of P3-T outlay for 2016 released

MANILA, Philippines – There will be enough funds for the next administration once it takes over by noon of June 30, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said.

Data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed 83.5 percent of the P3.002-trillion outlay is already deemed released and ready for disbursement.

“Yes, certainly. What have been substantially released are allotments or authority to obligate what is in the 2016 budget,” he said in a text message.

A total P2.51 trillion of the budget was allotted to departments and offices as of April. This means they could already enter into contracts to finance public projects.

Once they do, the project is deemed obligated and will have to pass through different clearances before getting disbursed or spent.

By then, agencies will need to secure notices of cash allocation (NCA) from the DBM which it would present to the Bureau of the Treasury to get checks.

Abad said the next government may opt not to recognize the budget allotments.

“The new administration can choose not to obligate the allotments released, declare them as savings and augment other items in the budget they find more important to fund,” he explained.

Sought for comment, Alvin Ang, economist at Ateneo de Manila University, agreed, but added that traditionally, the new administration just continues the program under its predecessor until December after which it will be able to spend it own budget by the following year.

“These are still not actually spent. But I guess the new administration will just continue the program much like in 2010,” Ang said.

“That’s the logical flow,” he added.

While allotment releases already amounted to P2 trillion, DBM data showed NCA releases only reached P464.33 billion as of the first quarter.

Of that amount, only P411.45 billion was utilized to get checks from the Treasury and be spent. The remaining amount is still with the agencies.

The budget process involves the allocation, obligation and disbursement of funds.