16M BUB for Central Visayas ready for implementation

CEBU, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-7) is preparing for the implementation of the P16 million Bottom-Up-Budgeting (BUB) for 15 local government units in Central Visayas for 2016.

In an interview yesterday with Epifania “Joy” Suralta, the regional BUB program focal person, she said that the total budget is targeted to complete at least 20 projects that will focus on identified capacity building and  skills training by the participating LGUs.

The BUB scheme provides the opportunity for prospective beneficiaries to be involved in setting their own goals and expectations for a given period.

For this year,  the program has a total of  P15 million budget allocated for 16 projects which include coco-monkey training in San Remegio;  capacity building for chorizo making in Alcantara; white cheese product and skills training in Compostela, and series of capacity building for entrepreneurs in Medellin, all in Cebu province.

Using the BUB scheme, the DTI provides funds that municipal governments can use in priming up local industries and help small entrepreneurs become competitive.

Under the scheme, LGUs are the ones that identify their programs or projects into the budgeting approach, recommend the needed interventions and decide on the manner of implementation.

According to Suralta, although programs of the participating LGUs have already been identified, the formal implementation for the 2016 budget will depend on the go signal from the National Expenditure Program.

Since its implementation in 2012, BUB, also called participatory budgeting, has been a buzzword among civil society organizations  all over the Philippines because of the fact that it is different from the usual top-to-bottom planning and budgeting where the high level executives make all the decisions in fund dispensations.

The BUB projects in Region 7 include, among others, the  Rural Micro Enterprise Promotion Program, Industry Clustering Development Program, Price Mapping & Monitoring, Green Growth Initiative, Shared Service Facilities, and One-Town One Product (OTOP) Store Express. (FREEMAN)