As part of the Administration’s campaign to energize citizen engagement in its budget preparations for 2013, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released a set of guidelines to standardize its partnership program with civil society organizations (CSOs) and other concerned stakeholders.

“The guidelines reaffirm our desire to institutionalize participatory budgeting in government. We want to nurture a strong relationship with CSOs, non-government organizations, and people’s groups in crafting the 2013 budget, so that our expenditure program will truly be community- and results-oriented,” Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad said.

Released as a National Budget Circular in January 31, 2012, the guidelines identify key parameters for citizen participation, especially in the preparation and submission of agency budget proposals for the next fiscal year. The circular also covers partnerships that will be formed between civil society groups and government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs).

Included in the circular are a set of governing principles for DBM-CSO engagement, rules for implementing CSO partnerships, procedures for consultations, and the necessary feedback mechanisms for proper documentation of the consultation process.

“We have already tasked government departments and GOCCs to establish strong ties with people’s organizations so that resulting budget proposals are accurate, comprehensive, and participatory. To ensure the efficiency of the consultation process, CSOs and their corresponding agencies must enter into Budget Partnership Agreements (BPAs), which will define the scope of CSO engagements in budget preparation and execution, and the evaluations of agency programs and activities,” Abad said.

The guideline also specify eligibility requirements for partner CSOs to ensure the qualification and proper authority of partner organizations.

In addition, the circular re-emphasizes the approach of bottom-up budgeting as a complement to the CSO consultation process. The DBM confirmed that guidelines for the implementation of the bottom-up scheme will soon be released in a separate memorandum.

“We trust that all concerned departments and GOCCs will follow through with their CSO engagements in the 2013 budget preparation process. However, if an agency fails to enter into a BPA with the proper organizations, they must address a justification letter to us, which should be included in their budget proposal submissions,” Abad said.

The budget chief also noted that at the end of the formal consultation process, the DBM will organize various fora to assess the effectiveness of citizen participation in budget preparations. The fora will be conducted upon submission of the National Budget to Congress.

“The Aquino administration’s movement toward participatory governance is gaining ground, and we believe that this will soon translate to visible benefits to all Filipinos. We are very enthusiastic in pursuing fruitful partnerships with citizen organizations this year, and we hope to sustain this tradition among all agencies in succeeding years,” Abad said.

Department of Budget and Management
Press Release
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
http://www.dbm.gov.ph/index.php?pid=3&nid=2484