Success of Bottom-Up Budgeting hinges on support of next president

CEBU, Philippines - The political empower-ment of the Filipino communities through the Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB) programs initiated by the Aquino administration can be sustained if the next president will support the same initiative.

Budget Secretary Butch Abad said that the impact of BUB will be even more potent if the country will have a president who will support it and will have the power to execute it down to the other government officials.

“That’s what exactly is happening now kaya sabi ng President, if you want to continue this, you think about 2016 because it is possible that one election can change the whole thing. You get a president who appreciates it and continue it eventually. This is about restructuring and decentralizing the society,” he said.

“Syempre si Secretary Mar Roxas,” Abad adds in jest, adding that it is the brainchild of Aquino, who is from the Liberal Party.

Out of the P24.7 billion allocated for 1,500 cities and municipalities for BUB next year, around P6.71 billion will be allotted for the implementation of 3,366 projects in the Visayas region.

This is an increase from the P5.57 billion allocated this year for the 3,634 BUB projects in the region. Since 2013 until next year, the government has allotted a total of P19.98 billion for 13,540 BUB projects in the entire Visayas.

Now on its fourth year of implementation, the BUB process was initiated by the Aquino administration through which priority projects are identified jointly by the communities and their local governments and are incorporated into the proposed projects of the implementing national government agencies submitted to the Congress for approval.

“There are certain functions that can only be wielded by the national government such as foreign affairs, national trade, national defense, and monetary policy among others. Yung paggawa ba naman ng barangay health station pati sa national government,” he said.

Abad said through BUB, the communities especially in the grassroots level develop a strong political force in participating in the affairs of the government.

“It is revolutionary in a sense that what we are trying to do is empower those who are for the longest time have never participated in the budget process. Dati we do not exist in the national government which is true. Now they are being recognized,” he said.

Abad said BUB serves as an antidote to the culture of political pilferage and veers away from the traditional practice of politics that tends to promote dependency especially among the poor to the national government.

“So kung dati ang lahat na pinanggagalingan ng lahat ng tulong ay iisang tao lang at lahat sila, they eat from the hand of the same person, sa BUB ang mga tao mismo ang titindig sa kanilang sariling paa to determine their faith by initiatives that promote their economic well-being or address their basic need in education, livelihood and health,” he said.

Abad said that although BUB is already institutionalized, it can be given permanence if there will be a law enacted.

He said that while there are those who appreciate the program, there are also some members of the Congress might be threatened with the BUB process since the people who are now politically-empowered may not follow them anymore.

“They are, of course, afraid kasi ang iniisip ng iba eventually wala na kaming pork barrel, hindi na sila susunod sa amin kasi meron na silang source of projects. Meron sa Congress galit na galit, saying why don’t you scrap these but nung kausapin ng mga mayors nila na okay naman ang BUB,” he said.

Meanwhile, National Anti-Poverty Commission secretary Jose Eliseo Rocamora did not discount the possibility that there may be government officials who may take advantage of BUB for their partisan interests.

This after some leaders from the basic sector and civil society organizations (BS/CSOs) raised concern on some local chief executives who reportedly continue to intervene in the selection process of the representatives of the CSO assembly to ensure that those who are friendlier to them will sit in the local poverty reduction action teams (LPRATS). LPRATs are co-chaired by the mayor and the representative of CSOs.

“Hindi maiiwasan na pagsabihin na NGO, ang unang maiisip ng mayor ay ang NGO ng missis nya or ng pinsan niya. May mga mayor pa rin na sila talaga ang hari sa municipality. They try to dominate the civil society. There will always be people who will try to use whatever they can use,” Rocamora said.

Rocamora said that there are mechanisms the government has provided to prevent such from happening. He also said that nowadays, the civil societies have eventually gained courage and participate in the decision-making and implementation of projects in their communities. 

Department of Interior and Local Government assistant secretary Josephine Go also said that they recently released a department memorandum circular reiterating the process involved in the conduct of the CSO assembly and putting appropriate measures in place for the local government officials.

Mayor Sandy Javier, national president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, said that the progress of the implementation of the BUB projects can measure if the mayors are doing their jobs now that the 2016 elections is at its offing.

“Kaya natataranta na ang ibang mayor kasi hindi pa nila nai-implement yung BUB dahil hahanapan sila ng tao lalo na malapit na ang eleksyon. Pag hindi nagawa ng paraan, hindi mananalo ngayong eleksyon. Ang tao ang huhusga,” he said.

He said that the BUB projects are products of teamwork between the local government leaders and the members of the community.  — (FREEMAN)