THE DEPARTMENT of Budget and Management (DBM) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) told national government agencies with the largest projects in the regions to begin budget planning for 2020.
Joint Memorandum Circular 1-2018 dated Nov. 21 and signed by Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia bared the regional investment programming-budgeting call for fiscal year 2020.
The circular was issued “to ensure spatial coherence of the Public Investment Program (PIP) and the Regional Development Investment Program (RDIP),” and “to sustain efforts at strengthening the planning-investment programming budgeting linkages at the national level.”
“This Circular will guide the regional investment programming and budgeting processes for FY 2020 Budget of the three pilot NG (national government) agencies which have the most number of proposed regional priority projects across RDCs (Regional Development Councils) namely: Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Health, and Department of Agriculture,” it said.
In budget preparation, agencies consult with RDCs to ensure that their respective budget proposals are aligned with the regions’ development needs and priorities.
The DBM then issues a national government budget call at the start of the preceding fiscal year to set the parameters procedures, and priorities in agencies’ proposed budgets, as well as the priorities. Budget proposals for continuing and new projects are then reviewed, before they are endorsed to the President and enter the legislative mill.
The Regional Development Plan (RDP) 2017-2022 contains the overall development framework of the region in the medium term, including the sectoral and spatial strategies that address the development concerns of the region and support the attainment of the goals and objectives of the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022. These strategies are operationalized through the programs, activities and projects (PAPs) listed in the Regional Development Investment Programs (RDIPs) 2017-2022.
“Therefore, these PAPs need to be taken into consideration in the agency investment programs and budgets to be able to realize the development strategies and targets espoused in the RDPs and its Results Matrices (RMs).”
The circular provides the procedure and timetable for agencies to identify and prioritize regional projects to be included in their investment program.
Agencies are to discuss with their regional offices the RDC-endorsed projects and programs for inclusion in the 2020 Budget, guided by budget priorities for the medium-term, and the indicative budget ceiling.
The agencies must also consider the implementation-readiness of the projects, as they “shall finalize their agency budget proposals, consistent with the priority agency PIPs, agency budget ceilings, absorptive capacity, sectoral policies and standards adopted by the NG agencies, and other policies and guidelines as may be prescribed in the National Budget Call and the Budget Priorities Framework.”
The budget for the P3.757-trillion 2019 budget is currently going through plenary debate at the Senate after the House of Representatives approved it on final reading on Nov. 20. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

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