BUDGET PROCESS OF THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

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• There are four phases in managing the National
Budget:
 Budget Preparation
 Budget Legislation
 Budget Execution
 Budget Accountability
• During the preparation phase, the Executive prepares
the proposed National Budget. This is followed by the
legislation phase where the Congress authorizes the
General Appropriations Act. In the execution phase,
agencies utilize their approved budgets and during
the accountability phase, the executive monitors and
evaluates the use of the budget.

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This starts with the Budget Call and ends with the
President’s submission of the proposed budget to
Congress.
What is the Budget Call?
What is Early Preparation?
What is Stakeholder Engagement?
What is “Bottom-Up” Budgeting?
What are Technical Budget Hearings?
What is the Executive Review?
What is Consolidation, Validation, and
Confirmation?
What is a Presentation to President and
Cabinet?
What is the President’s Budget?

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• At the beginning of the budget
preparation year, the Department of
Budget and Management (DBM)
issues the National Budget Call to all
agencies (including state universities
and colleges) and a separate
Corporate Budget Call to all GOCCs
and GFIs.
• The Budget Call contains budget
parameters (including macroeconomic
and fiscal targets and agency budget
ceilings) as set beforehand by the
Development Budget Coordination
Committee (DBCC); and policy
guidelines and procedures in the
preparation and submission of agency
budget proposals.

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• Under the Aquino Administration, the
DBM has established a new tradition
of beginning the Budget Preparation
phase earlier, to ensure that the
National Budget is enacted on time.
Under the new Budget Preparation
Calendar, the Budget Call is issued in
December (versus around April in the
past); and the submission of the
President’s budget a day after the
State of the Nation Address (in
contrast to earlier practice where it is
submitted during the late in the 30-day
window that the Constitution
prescribes).

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• A new feature in budget
preparations which seeks to
increase citizen participation in the
budget process, departments and
agencies are tasked to partner
with civil society organizations
(CSOs) and other citizen-
stakeholders as they prepare their
agency budget proposals.
• This new process, which was
piloted in the preparation of the
2012 National Budget, is now
being expanded towards
institutionalization.

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ORIGINAL SET (Piloted in 2012) NEW SET (Starting 2013)
Department of Health
Department of Education
Department of Social Welfare and
Development
Department of Public Works and Highways
Department of Agriculture
Department of Agrarian Reform
National Food Authority
National Housing Authority
National Home Mortgage and Finance Corp.
Department of Tourism
Department of Transportation and
Communication
Department of Interior and Local
Government
Department of Justice
Department of Labor and
Employment
Department of Environment and
Natural Resources
Light Rail Transit Authority
National Electrification
Administration
National Irrigation Administration
Note: All other departments and agencies are highly encouraged to undertake the process.

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• For the first time in history, the
National Budget for 2013 will be
prepared using a breakthrough
“bottom-up” approach. As opposed to
the conventional way of allocating
resources from top to bottom,
grassroots communities will be
engaged in designing the National
Budget.
• The Aquino government, through the Cabinet Cluster on Human
Development and Poverty Reduction, has identified 300 to 400
of the poorest municipalities and will engage these in crafting
community-level poverty reduction and empowerment plans.
This initial salvo of “bottom-up” budgeting will focus on rural
development programs and the conditional cash transfer
program, and will thus involve DA, DAR, DENR, DSWD, DepEd
and DoH. These agencies will then include the community plans
in their proposed budgets.

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• These are conducted after
departments and agencies
submit their Agency Budget
Proposals to the DBM. Here,
agencies defend their proposed
budgets before a technical
panel of DBM, based on
performance indicators on
output targets and absorptive
capacity. DBM bureaus then
review the agency proposals
and prepare recommendations.

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• The recommendations are
presented before an Executive
Review Board which is
composed of the DBM
Secretary and senior officials.
• Deliberations here entail a
careful prioritization of
programs and corresponding
support, vis-à-vis the priority
agenda of the national
government.
• Implementation issues are also
discussed and resolved.

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• DBM then consolidates the
recommended agency budgets
and recommendations into a
National Expenditure Program and
a Budget of Expenditures and
Sources of Financing (BESF).
• As part of the consolidating
process, the deliberations by the
DBCC will determine the agency
and sectoral allocation of the
approved total expenditure ceiling,
in line with the macroeconomic
and fiscal program. Heads of
major departments are invited to
this meeting.

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• The proposed budget is presented by DBM,
together with the DBCC, to the President and
Cabinet for further refinements or reprioritization.
After the President and Cabinet approve the
proposed National Expenditure Plan, the DBM
prepares and finalizes the budget documents to
be submitted to Congress.

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• The budget preparation phase
ends with the submission of the
proposed national budget — the
“President’s Budget” — to
Congress.
• The President’s Budget
consists of the following
documents, which help
legislators analyze the contents
of the proposed budget:

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• President’s Budget Message (PBM)
This is where the President explains the policy framework and priorities in
the budget.
• Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF)
Mandated by the Constitution, this contains the macroeconomic
assumptions, public sector context (including overviews of LGU and GOCC
financial positions), breakdown of the expenditures and funding sources for
the fiscal year and the two previous years.
• National Expenditure Program (NEP)
This contains the details of spending for each department and agency by
program, activity or project, and is submitted in the form of a proposed
General Appropriations Act.
• Details of Selected Programs and Projects
This contains a more detailed disaggregation of key programs, projects and
activities in the NEP, especially those in line with the national government’s
development plan.
• Staffing Summary
This contains a summary of the staffing complement of each department
and agency, including number of positions and amounts allocated for the
same.

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• Alternatively called the “Budget Authorization
phase,” this starts upon the House Speaker’s receipt
of the President’s Budget and ends with the
President’s enactment of the General Appropriations
Act.
What are House Deliberations?
What are Senate Deliberations?
What are Bicameral Deliberations?
What is Ratification and Enrollment?
What is the Veto Message?
What is Enactment?
What are Reenacted Budgets?

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• The House of Representatives, in plenary, assigns the
President’s Budget to the House Appropriations Committee.
The Committee and its Sub-Committees then schedule and
conduct hearings on the budgets of the departments and
agencies and scrutinize their respective programs and
projects. It then crafts the General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
• In plenary session, the GAB is sponsored, presented and
defended by the Appropriations Committee and Sub-
Committee Chairmen. As in all other laws, the GAB is
approved on Second and Third Reading before transmission
to the Senate. (Note: In the First Reading, the President’s
Budget is assigned to the Appropriations Committee.)

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• As in the House process, the Senate conducts its own
committee hearings and plenary deliberations on the
GAB. Budget deliberations in the Senate formally start
after the House of Representatives transmits the GAB.
For expediency, however, the Senate Finance
Committee and Sub-Committees usually start hearings
on the GAB even as House deliberations are ongoing.
• The Committee submits its proposed amendments to
the GAB to plenary only after it has been formally
transmitted by the House.

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• Once both Houses of Congress have finished their
deliberations, they will each constitute a panel to
the Bicameral Conference Committee. This
committee will then discuss and harmonize the
conflicting provisions of the House and Senate
Versions of the GAB. A Harmonized Version of the
GAB is thus produced.

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• The Harmonized or “Bicam” Version is then
submitted to both Houses, which will then vote to
ratify the final GAB for submission to the
President. Once submitted to the President for his
approval, the GAB is considered enrolled.

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• The President and DBM then review the GAB and
prepare a Veto Message, where budget items
subjected to direct veto or conditional
implementation are identified, and where general
observations are made. Under the Constitution,
the GAB is the only legislative measure where the
President can impose a line-veto (in all other
cases, a law is either approved or vetoed in full).

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• When the GAA is not enacted before the fiscal year
starts, the previous year’s GAA is automatically
reenacted. This means that agency budgets for
programs, activities and projects remain the same.
Funding for programs or projects that have already
been terminated is realigned for other expenditures.
Because reenactments are tedious and prone to
abuse, the Aquino Administration—with the support of
Congress—has committed to ensure the timely
enactment of a new GAA every year.

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• When the GAA is not enacted before the fiscal
year starts, the previous year’s GAA is
automatically reenacted. This means that
agency budgets for programs, activities and
projects remain the same.
• Funding for programs or projects that have
already been terminated is realigned for other
expenditures. Because reenactments are
tedious and prone to abuse, the Aquino
Administration—with the support of Congress—
has committed to ensure the timely enactment
of a new GAA every year.

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• This is where the people’s money is actually spent. As soon
as the GAA is enacted, the government can implement its
priority programs and projects.
What are the Release Guidelines and
Program?
What are Budget Execution Documents?
What is Allotment and Cash Release
Programming?
What is Allotment Release?
What are Incurring Obligations?
What does the GAA as Allotment Release
mean?
What are Cash Allocations?
What is Disbursement?

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• The budget execution phase begins with
DBM’s issuance of guidelines on the
release and utilization of funds.

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• Agencies are required to submit
their BEDs at the start of budget
execution. These documents
outline agency plans and
performance targets. These
BEDs include the physical and
financial plan, monthly cash
program, estimate of monthly
income, and list of obligations
that are not yet due and
demandable.

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• To ensure that releases fit the
approved Fiscal Program, the DBM
prepares an Allotment Release
Program (ARP) to set a limit for
allotments issued to an agency and on
the aggregate.
• The ARP of each agency corresponds
to the total amount of the agency-
specific budget under the GAA, as
well as Automatic Appropriations. A
Cash Release Program (CRP) is also
formulated alongside that to set a
guide for disbursement levels for the
year and for every month.

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• Allotments, which authorize an
agency to enter into an
obligation, are either released
by DBM to all agencies
comprehensively through the
Agency Budget Matrix (ABM)
and individually via Special
Allotment Release Orders
(SAROs).

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• Agency Budget Matrix (ABM)
 This document disaggregates all
programmed appropriations for each
agency into two main expenditure
categories: “not needing clearance”
and “needing clearance.”
 The ABM is the comprehensive
allotment release document for
appropriations which do not need
clearance, or those which have
already been itemized and fleshed out
in the GAA.

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• Allotment Release Orders
(SAROs)
 Items identified as “needing
clearance” are those which require
the approval of the DBM or the
President, as the case may be (for
instance, lump sum funds and
confidential and intelligence funds).
 For such items, an agency needs to
submit a Special Budget Request to
the DBM with supporting documents.
Once approved, a SARO is issued.

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• In implementing programs,
activities and projects, agencies
incur liabilities on behalf of the
government. Obligations are
liabilities legally incurred, which
the government will pay for.
• There are various ways that an
agency “obligates:” for example,
when it hires staff (an obligation to
pay salaries), receives billings for
the use of utilities, or enters into a
contract with an entity for the
supply of goods or services.

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• The Aquino Administration plans to design the annual
General Appropriations Act as the comprehensive
allotment release document itself. This is being
pursued in order to significantly speed-up the process
of releasing the Budget and implementing the
programs and projects that it funds.
• The 2013 National Budget, currently being prepared, is
being designed in such way. This entails the
disaggregation of all budget items into full detail, as
well as the elimination of all lump-sum funds, save for a
few exceptions such as the Calamity Fund. In other
words, this reform significantly reduces the need for
SAROs.

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• To authorize an agency to pay
the obligations it incurs, DBM
issues a disbursement
authority.
• Most of the time, it takes the
form of a Notice of Cash
Allocation (NCA); and in
special cases, the Non-Cash
Availment Authority (NCAA)
and Cash Disbursement
Ceiling (CDC).

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• Notice of Cash Allocation
(NCA)
 This is a cash authority issued
periodically by the DBM to the
operating units of agencies to
cover their cash requirements.
 The NCA specifies the maximum
amount of cash that can be
withdrawn from a government
servicing bank for the period
indicated.
 The release of NCAs by DBM is
based on an agency’s submission
of its Monthly Cash Program and
other required documents.

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• Others Disbursement
Authorities.
 In contrast to NCAs, Non-Cash
Availment Authority (NCAA)
are issued to authorize non-
cash disbursements.
 Cash Disbursement Ceiling
(CDC) are meanwhile issued to
departments with overseas
operations, allowing them to
use income collected by their
foreign posts for their operating
requirements.

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• This is the final step of the budget execution
phase, where government monies are actually
spent. The Modified Disbursement Scheme is
mostly used, where disbursements of national
government agencies chargeable against the
Treasury are made through government servicing
banks, such as the Land Bank of the Philippines.
• The budget process, of course, does not end when
government agencies spend public funds: each
and every peso must be accounted for to ensure
that is used properly, contributing to the
achievement of socio-economic goals.

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• This phase happens alongside the Budget
Execution phase.
• Through Budget Accountability, the DBM monitors the
efficiency of fund utilization, assesses agency performance
and provides a vital basis for reforms and new policies.
What are Performance Targets and
Outcomes?
What are Budget Accountability Reports
(BARs)?
What does No Report, No Release mean?
What does Review of Agency Performance
mean?
What is an Audit?
What is the Performance-Based Incentive
System?

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• Agencies are held accountable not
only for how these use public funds
ethically, but also on how these attain
performance targets and outcomes
using available resources.
• These performance measures are set
alongside the preparation of the
National Budget; and these are
indicated in the OPIF Book of Outputs.
• Prior to the execution of the enacted
National Budget, these performance
targets are firmed up during the
preparation of BEDs.

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• Submitted by agencies on a
monthly and quarterly basis, BARs
are required reports that show how
agencies used their funds and
identify their corresponding
physical accomplishments.
• These include quarterly physical
and financial reports of operations;
quarterly income reports, a
monthly statement of allotments,
obligations and balances; and
monthly report of disbursements.

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• Starting 2012, the DBM will be withholding certain
fund releases to agencies if these fail to submit their
Budget Accountability Reports. In particular, these
will be funds from the Miscellaneous Personnel
Benefits Fund (MPBF) for compensation
adjustments under the Salary Standardization Law,
provisions for unfilled positions and employee
clothing allowances.
• These funds to be withheld are only limited to
agencies’ MPBF allotments so that only the
agencies are penalized and that the implementation
of critical programs and projects will not be
disrupted. Errant and compliant agencies will also be
posted online for public scrutiny.

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• The DBM regularly reviews the financial and physical
performance of agencies. Actual utilization of funds and
physical accomplishments, as indicated in the agencies’
BARs, are evaluated against their targets as identified via
OPIF and in the agencies’ BEDs. Agency Performance
Reviews (APRs) are conducted quarterly or every semester,
as the case may be.
• An annual Budget Performance Assessment Review (BPAR)
is conducted to determine each agency’s accomplishments
and performance by the year-end. The DBM regularly reports
results to the President.

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• Auditing is not within the DBM’s
jurisdiction, and is instead
lodged under the Commission
on Audit (COA). Nonetheless,
auditing is critical in ensuring
agency accountability in the use
of public funds.
• The DBM uses COA’s audit
reports in confirming agency
performance, determining
budgetary levels for agencies
and addressing issues in fund
usage.

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• The Department of Budget and Management
(DBM) is also in the process of establishing a
performance-based incentive system — which will
recognize and reward good performance among
government employees — to help improve the
efficiency of service delivery across all government
institutions.

BUDGET PROCESS OF THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

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