BUB Proves Budgeting Not Just For Technical Experts

Bottom Up Budgeting (BUB) is the government’s efforts of removing the impression that budgeting can only be done by the experts, disclosed Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Butch Abad.

This is despite a widely embraced perception that budgeting concept is technical and thus requires specialized skills.

“How would the BUB come up to its purpose if we are not assured of the competencies and capabilities of the local government units?” a member of the local media asked Sec. Abad during a press conference January 7.

“It is not as complex as some people perceive,” Abad assured the media during the BUB press con with Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Soliman, Governor Edgar Chatto, and Association of Barangay Councils Romulo Cepedoza.

This, too, as the government is poised to release P1 million in subsidy to each of the 12,000 barangays to be used for the implementation of their identified projects, a press material from the DBM stated.

This is dependent on the policy direction which the incoming administration is taking, said DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman.

She said so much of Bohol barangays have been into BUB especially in the implementation of the Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI) projects which are basically community-driven projects identified and implemented by the barangays.

BUB is a government reform program that institutionalized the people’s participation in the budget process, announced the DBM.

And along this line, Sec. Abad said all barangays in the country will be beneficiaries, however, the implementation would come in batches.

To this too, the DBM has started national consultations with barangay leaders to engage them in health discussion of the processes of the barangay BUB.

Earlier, local government units across the country sought for the institutionalization of the BUB at the barangay levels.

This year, the government also earmarks P6.5 billion to test the capability of local governments to implement roads rehabilitation, Abad said. (rmn/rac/PIA-7/Bohol)