THE MEASURE that will modernize the government’s budgeting system, which failed to hurdle the 17th Congress, will be refiled in the Senate.

Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva, Finance committee vice-chairman, on Tuesday committed to refile the proposed Budget Reform Act, which will institutionalize a cash-based budgeting system.

“We will refile,” he said in a mobile phone message on Tuesday when asked on the reform.

“We wanted to assess this year’s cash budgeting system [first].”

Mr. Villanueva said much has to be considered in shifting to a cash-based system from the multi-year obligation-based budgeting, which had allowed the validity of funds up to two years, thus giving state offices less urgency to spend as they should.

Under a cash-based system, procurement for programs and projects should be completed within the fiscal year. The same system provides a three-month extended payment period, provided the goods and services have already been delivered, verified and inspected by the end of the fiscal year.

“There are important principles we have to consider in examining the budget, like how will this law affect participatory budgeting; how will it maximize the national grants to local governments to incentivize good governance; and how will this help the targeted welfare services, and most importantly will this promote transparency, accountability and efficiency,” Mr. Villanueva explained.

He added that some items in the budget may not be implemented within the fiscal year, citing the budget allocation for state schools especially in light of the shift in school year.

“For example, some of the schools have adjusted their academic calendar. If you are a scholar enrolling for the second semester and the term begins January of the following year, then the funds for your education may not be covered by the current budget,” he said.

“We also have to look at our current procurement procedures. If the budget is reformed, the procurement system has to be changed too.”

Mr. Villanueva co-authored Senate Bill No. 1761 in the 17th Congress, which failed to secure third-reading approval ahead of the June 3 adjournment. Its counterpart measure, House Bill No. 7302, was approved on final reading in March 2018.

Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, for his part as Finance committee chairman, said in a separate phone message that he “will study it.”

The bill is among the priorities being pushed by the Cabinet participatory governance cluster, led by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), for approval in the first regular session of the 18th Congress.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte in signing the P3.662-trillion 2019 General Appropriations Act, clarified that the spending plan will be implemented under a cash-based system.

The P4.1-trillion budget for 2020 is also designed as a cash-based spending plan. It secured final reading at the House, under House Bill No. 4228, on Sept. 20.

The Senate is expected to sponsor the budget for plenary debates when session resumes on Nov. 4. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

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