GPU 7206 - Public Fiscal Administration August 28, 2020

Dr. Norlito R. Gicana – Professor

Submitted by: John U. Balag

Budgetary Process in the National Level - Philippine Government Settings

Introduction:

The national budget is one of the clearest expressions of a government’s values, its
priorities, and its plans for the country. It tells us to what extent our politicians
reflect the will and interests of the people.

The Process

Budget Preparation involves the formulation of estimates of revenues and

expenditures by the Executive Departments and Agencies. In preparing the annual
budget proposal, the said department makes an estimation of government revenues.
It then determines the budget priorities within available revenues and borrowing
limits. Finally, it translates these approved priorities into expenditures.

 
Committee in the  preparation of the budget,   the Development Budget
Coordination Committee (DBCC) which composed of the following agencies:

a. The Department of Budget and Management, the agency responsible for

resource allocation and management;

b. The Department of Finance, the agency responsible for resource generation and
debt management;

c. The National Economic and Development Authority, the agency responsible for
overall economic activity;

d. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines), the agency
responsible for monetary measures and policies;

e. The Office of the President of the Philippines, the agency responsible for the
approval and oversight of the budget
In the preparation of the budget, the DBCC approves the parameters, makes a
budget call, conducts budget hearings, makes a budget review then consolidates the
budget.

It then validates and confirms the budget, which is finally approved by the
President of the Philippines and his Cabinet. The President thereby submits the
budget to Congress for approval.

Budget Legislation/Authorization
 
a. Overview
This pertains to the whole range of legislative action on the budget, leading to the
enactment of a General Appropriations Law for the year. The Philippine House of
Representatives first conducts hearings/debates on the budget.

The House then approves the budget, for submission to the Senate of the
Philippines. Senate hearings and debates are conducted on the budget, which is
finally approved. A Bicameral Conference Committee composed of representatives
of the Philippine House of Representatives and the Senate is convened. After
approval by the Bicameral Conference Committee, the President enacts the budget
which is known as the General Appropriations Act.

b. The Legislative Budget Process

The main unit of the Philippine House of Representatives involved in the budget
process is the Committee Affairs Department (CAD) composed of the Standing
Committees and Sub-Committees. The CAD’s activities during budget legislation
are:

Committee Budget Hearings

Standing Committees (sometimes referred to as the Mother Committee/Committee

Proper) are responsible for conducting budget hearings. During these hearings,
macroeconomic assumptions/plans are presented during the Committee budget
hearings on a department wide level. All the heads of the Executive Departments
are invited to these hearings.

Sub-Committees are also responsible for conducting these budget hearings. Budget
hearings are conducted by the Sub-Committees on an agency by agency level.
Bureaus and other offices under the various departments of the national
government are invited to these hearings.
Printing of General Appropriations Bill (GAB) on 1st Reading

A National Expenditure Program is formulated, and a copy of the GAB on 1st

Reading is printed by the Committee Technical Staff, based on the National
Expenditure Program. The GAB is filed in the plenary session for 1st Reading.
 

Executive Meeting of the Committee

The Committee meets in executive session to discuss and approve proposed

committee amendments to the GAB. Committee Reports are prepared and filed to
the Bills and Index Division.
 
 
Sponsorship and Plenary Deliberations

General principles and macroeconomic assumptions are sponsored and debated in

the plenary session. Deliberations on the budgets of each department, agency,
office, including Government Owned and Controlled Corporations.

Approval on 2nd Reading of the GAB

Turno en contra speeches are delivered on the Floor. The turno en contra is a
legislative tradition allowing opponents of a bill an opportunity to explain at length
their position, in the same manner that a bill’s sponsor delivers a sponsorship
speech. After the Turno en Contra, the Philippine House Members vote on the
approval of the GAB on 2nd Reading.

Amendments, Finalization & Printing of the GAB for 3rd Reading

Inclusion of possible amendments to the GAB for 3rd Reading are submitted to the
Floor. Amendments are approved for inclusion in the proposed copy of the GAB
on 3rd Reading, which is subsequently printed for deliberation.

Approval of the GAB on 3rd Reading

The GAB is distributed to the Philippine House Members who vote on the
approval of the bill on 3rd Reading. The GAB is then approved on 3rd Reading.

Transmittal of the 3rd Reading Copy of the GAB to the Philippine Senate
The GAB, as approved on 3rd Reading, is transmitted to the Senate for
consideration in a similar manner as deliberated upon by the House.
Bicameral (Bicam for short) Conference Committee

The Conferees or representatives from both the Philippine House and Senate
convene as a Conference Committee in order to settle and reconcile differing
provisions of each Chamber’s version of the bill.

Approval of the Bicameral Report

During this stage of the budget process, the Conference Committee Report is
ratified by each Chamber.

Finalization and Printing of the Enrolled Copy of the GAB

All amendments as approved in the Committee Report is incorporated into the

enrolled copy of the GAB. The enrolled copy is finally printed.

Signing of the Enrolled Copy of the GAB

The enrolled copy of the GAB is forwarded to the President for signing. Veto
powers of the President are exercised in the enactment of the GAB. The signed
appropriations bill is finally enacted into a law which is termed as the General
Appropriations Act.

Budget Execution/Implementation

Budget execution covers the allotment of appropriations by the central budget

authority to, and the incurrence of obligations by, the spending departments and
agencies of government. The steps in the execution of the budget are:

a. Release of the funds by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)

b. Implementation of the various programs and activities by the different

government agencies:
i. Involves the formulation of allotment and cash programs

ii. An Agency Budget Matrix (ABM) is prepared

iii. The ABM is validated/Confirmed for correctness and accuracy

iv. The General Allotment Release Order (GARO)/Special Allotment Release

Order (SARO)/Notice of Cash Allotment is Released (NCA)

v. Government Programs/Projects/Activities can now be implemented due to fund

release

Budget Accountability & Review

This involved the reporting of actual performance against plans or targets, and it
involves the following process:

a. Monitoring of agency budgetary performance

b. Comparison and evaluation of actual performance with the initially-approved
work targets
c. A summary list of checks issued is submitted on a monthly basis
d. Physical & Financial Report of Operations is submitted on a quarterly basis in
the form of a trial balance

Evaluation on the 2020 National Budget

2020 budget reveals the government’s perverse priorities. Such perversities:

First, the government is slashing funding for a number of major social services,
including basic education, free college tuition, and health care.

Second, lawmakers are brazenly pushing for the return of pork.

Third, the Office of the President is asking for a whopping P8.2 billion 2020
budget , 21% more than 2019 current year budget, for unconscionably bloated
confidential and intelligence.
Education budget cuts

Let’s start with the public education sector, which will take a beating once the new
budget is enacted into law.

Although the Department of Education (DepEd) will still enjoy the lion’s share of
the budget next year – as mandated by the Constitution – DepEd  failed to request
enough funds for its yawning resource gaps.

For instance, DepEd wants to construct nearly 65,000 more classrooms and hire
43,000 more teachers across the country. But they secured funding for only 10,000
new classrooms and 10,000 new teachers.

Even funds for agencies attached to DepEd, as well as the voucher program for
Senior High School, are in peril. (READ: DepEd attached agencies get lower
share in proposed 2020 budget)

Meanwhile, funds for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) are also
being cut from P52.4 billion this year to P40.8 billion (22% lower).
Worst hit would be the implementation of the free tuition law (a P7.1-billion cut)
and CHED’s student financial assistance programs (a P3.7-billion cut). 

Health budget cuts

Public health care services also face huge budget cuts next year. Senator Risa
Hontiveros called such cuts an “attack on public health.”

For starters, government is reducing funding for the Department of Health (DOH)
by at least P10 billion in 2020.
This comes at a time when a slew of epidemics have sprouted across the country,
starting with measles, dengue, and most recently polio – last seen in the
Philippines nearly two decades ago.

Mass immunization programs need to be revived, but the DOH’s deployment of

human resources in 2020 will see a sizable 71% budget cut.

The DOH’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) will also see a P10-
billion budget reduction. Funding for the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) – the
National University Hospital – is also to be shaved by P465 million next year.
All these health budget cuts will doubtless undermine the government’s ability to
provide sufficient and reliable health care services, especially for the poor. It will
also impede the first year of implementation of the ambitious Universal Health
Care (UHC) Act signed by Duterte earlier this year.
Amid all this, Congress is moving to legislate the setting up of Malasakit
Centers in all DOH-run public hospitals. These partisan one-stop shops helped
catapult Bong Go (Duterte’s long-time assistant) to the Senate last May.

Bloated confidential, intelligence funds

While key education and health projects are being underfunded, Duterte is hogging
up more funds for his own office.
For 2020 the Office of the President (OP) is asking for a whopping 80% increase
of its confidential and intelligence funds, from P2.5 billion to P4.5 billion. That’s
more than half of the OP’s total proposed budget next year.

Reference: file:///C:/Users/asus/Desktop/[ANALYSIS]%20Duterte%E2%80%99s%20perverse
%20priorities%20in%20the%20proposed%202020%20budget.html

ANALYSIS] Duterte’s perverse priorities in the proposed 2020 budget

  OCTOBER 3, 2019    JC PUNONGBAYAN
Conclusion:

The budget must undergo careful scrutiny because it comes from taxpayers’
money. Basic criteria must be considered, namely, responsiveness, efficiency, and
value-for-money. Is government spending responsive to peoples’ needs? Is it not
wasteful? Do people get the most value out of every peso spent?
By: ROMULO E. M. MIRAL JR, PhD –Deputy Secretary General-Congressional Policy and
Research Dept. House of Representative.
In the past and until today, news about many government agencies had been
suffered from scrutiny because of rumored that top officials were involved in
anomalous transaction in their respective agencies like philhealth, bureau of
customs, pagcor and many others. They gained negative impression from the
public, until it ends up to an investigation by the different investigating body like
NBI, DOJ, Senate, Ombudsman and Civil Service.

In my opinion, selecting leaders who will chaired any government agency must be
carefully choosen, its not only his intelligence, experience, qualification, alliance,
payment of debt will consider, but most of all the character of a person, his
integrity, patriotism, humane and god fearing and have the political will to
implement what is the true objective of the institution he/she will serve will matters
most.
 

THANK YOU.