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DBM still pushing for passage of Budget Modernization Bill

By Azer Parrocha

January 4, 2023, 12:49 pm

<p>Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman <em>(File photo)</em></p>

Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman (File photo)

MANILA – The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) remains committed to pushing for the passage of the Budget Modernization Bill, which is one of the priority legislative measures of the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

In a speech during the agency’s first flag-raising ceremony of the year, DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman assured that pursuing the Budget Modernization Bill will be “on top of our list.”

“For 2023, we will strive to do more, to do better, and be better. On top of our list, we will pursue the Budget Modernization Bill to institutionalize the Cash Budgeting System (CBS),” she said.

The Budget Modernization Bill seeks the institutionalization of the Cash-based Budgeting System (CBS) under Executive Order No. 91, s. 2019 to strengthen fiscal discipline in the allocation and use of budget resources by ensuring that every peso budgeted by the government would lead to the actual delivery of programs and projects.

Under the CBS, all appropriations will be made available for obligation and implemented only until the end of each fiscal year, while payments for obligations incurred may be settled within the year or up to an extended period of three months after the end of the validity of appropriations.

This will address bottlenecks in obligations, which will lead to on-time implementation and disbursement of the government’s programmed projects.

Marcos, in his first State of the Nation address, said the full implementation of the CBS is “timely and vital as the government executes response and recovery plans post-pandemic.”

Pangandaman said there is a need to institutionalize the full implementation of the CBS to fully reap the impact of CBS and ensure prudent fiscal management and improved budget reliability.

Aside from the Budget Modernization Bill, the DBM chief said her department would also hasten the development and implementation of the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS) to improve convenience, efficiency, accuracy, and timeliness in fiscal management and reporting.

The DBM’s BTMS, launched in 2019, serves as an integrated and fully-automated platform for a sustainable Government Resource Planning (GRP) solution that is extensible, flexible and adaptable to reforms.

Before the BTMS launch, the government used to process financial transactions manually and use numerous stand-alone systems to generate financial information, resulting in a lack of budget credibility and funding predictability, a weak cash management system, and the absence of a common budgetary and accounting classification.

Pangandaman said the DBM would pursue the rightsizing of the bureaucracy to transform the government into an agile, responsive, and data-driven bureaucracy in order to deliver secured and seamless public services in response to Marcos’ directive.

“Alam ko pong hindi madali ang ating mga mithiin, ngunit batid ko rin na kung tayo ay magtutulungan, maisasakatuparan natin ang ating mga plano at reporma. Kaya ngayong taon at sa mga susunod, aasahan ko po ang inyong suporta at tulong (I know that our goals are not easy, but I also know that if we work together, we can realize our plans and reforms. So this year and in the years to come, I will count on your support and help),” she said.

She enjoined DBM employees to look forward to the future with “great hope and optimism” and be guided by their “endeavors for the Filipino people.” (PNA)

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