BUDGET PREP. Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Eastern Visayas Regional Director Imelda Laceras on Wednesday (June 29, 2022) said they are eyeing holding a regional planning forum on the 2024 budget process. The forum aims to curb underspending and non-approval of some proposed funds among government agencies in Eastern Visayas. (Photo courtesy of DBM Region 8)
TACLOBAN CITY – The Regional Development Council (RDC) is eyeing to hold a regional planning forum on the 2024 budget process to curb underspending and non-approval of some proposed funds among government agencies in Eastern Visayas.
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Regional Director Imelda Laceras said in a phone interview Wednesday the forum will serve as an avenue for government agencies to participate in the discussions that will guide them in the preparation of budget proposals.
The RDC approved the conduct of the regional planning forum during its full council meeting on June 23. It will be held in August 2022 based on initial agreements.
“There remains the need to further build up planning capacities and improve and firm up agency and state universities and colleges (SUCs) operational plans, especially in the light of the results of the RDC budget exercise, where assessment showed that only a small fraction of the proposed projects for 2023 are found to be fully compliant with the implementation-ready requirement,” Laceras said.
Only 12.41 percent of the proposed 4,464 projects for next year in Eastern Visayas are considered ready for implementation.
The official blames the persistent organizational weakness within national government agencies and the SUCs for hampering their ability to execute programs and projects well and fast.
“This is a result of poor planning in project design, weak capacity and delays in finalizing specifications, weak operational planning, and bottlenecks in implementation. These bottlenecks include difficulty in securing clearances or permits, coordination problems, right of way and other legal issues,” Laceras added.
In its latest monitoring report, the DBM disclosed that some PHP30.21 billion budget of national government agencies in Eastern Visayas remains undisbursed as of the first quarter of 2022, representing 81 percent of the total obligated funds since last year.
From 2016 to 2022, records show that only 45 percent of the RDC-endorsed budget proposals for selected infrastructure projects have been included in the General Appropriations Act.
The underspending, non-utilization, or lapsing of funds, and low batting average could have resulted in the loss of opportunities for the socio-economic development of the region.
The RDC-endorsed budget proposals were found to have a low batting average against the General Appropriations Act, pegged at around 45 percent for selected proposed infrastructure projects from 2016 to 2022 based on monitoring reports.
Batting average refers to the ratio of approved funded projects versus the requested projects for funding as endorsed by the RDC, according to Laceras. (PNA)
