NORTHERN Mindanao would have the second highest share of Mindanao’s budget based on the Duterte administration’s proposed budget for 2019.
Of the island’s six regions, the Davao region would have the highest allocation at P127 billion while the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm), the country’s poorest region, would have the lowest at P76.5 billion.
Mindanao’s share from the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget however is 4.7 percent or P585.851 billion lower than its share of P615 billion this year due to government’s “budget reforms,” data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed.
The data, released by the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) in Davao on Friday, showed the shares of Visayas and Luzon also decreased by 4.3 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, except for the National Capital Region which would receive 2.1 percent more than the 2018 allocation.
Mindanao’s share in the national budget rose to 12.4 percent from 2017 to 2018 and 15.6 percent from 2018 to 2019 but in terms of amount, the 2019 budget is lower by 29.1 billion pesos for 2019.
Northern Mindanao would have the second highest share at P121.9 billion followed by the Zamboanga Peninsula, P88.4 billion; Soccsksargen, P87.5 billion and Caraga, P84.4 billion.
Dr. Adrian Tamayo, public relations chief of the Mindanao Development Authority (Minda), said the 15.6 percent share is still small because Mindanao’s rightful share should be at least 20 percent.
Tamayo explained that government should allocate a higher budget for Mindanao because poverty incidence is higher and there is a “need to increase budget share to reverse the poverty trend.”
He said infrastructure development such as road development in Mindanao accounts for only 64 percent when more road projects are needed to interlink and connect areas in Mindanao.
Tamayo noted that out of 75 “Build, Build, Build” projects lined up nationwide, only 16 are in Mindanao.
“The current Mindanao share of 15.6 percent is like a consolation from the 11 percent to 12 percent historical share of Mindanao. It will only perpetuate the regional disparities at the cost of Mindanao and its future,” Tamayo said.
To compensate for the 4.4 percent that would complete the proposed 20-percent share, Tamayo urged agencies like the Department of Transportation, Department of Information and Communications Technlogy, and Department of Trade and Industry to realign line item budget for Mindanao.
He said the 20-percent increase in the national budget would basically mean a catch-up budget so that “Mindanao will grow at expected economic size it has to be.”
“It means Mindanao allowing Mindanao to catch up with inter connectivity by railways, digital opportunities and trade and commerce,” he said.
Maria Lourdes Lim, Neda director for Region 11, said the decrease of P29.1 billion in 2019 compared with the 2018 budget is due to the budget reforms undertaken by the DBM that seek to modernize the public budgeting for fiscal year 2019, from the obligation-based budgeting to cash-based budgeting.
“What we mean when we say cash-based budgeting is we all want to see projects included in the national expenditure program that are ‘shoveleady’ or those that can be implemented immediately,” she said.
The implementing agencies must have accomplished the requisites, for instance, acquisition of right of way, clearances, feasibility studies, detailed engineering design, and endorsements from the local and regional development councils, Lim added.
The multi-year obligation-based budgeting system would include the projects in the national expenditure program even without the complete supporting documents, she said.
Lim explained that under the existing obligation-based budgeting system, implementing agencies are given two years to utilize the budget for the projects while under the cash-based system, they would be compelled to immediately utilize the funds within one year.
She said the absorptive capacity of the implementing agency should be strengthened or “you will lose your funds back to the national treasury because you do not have the capability in the first place to implement these projects that are shoveleady.”
A briefer from the DBM said the budget reform was intended to ramp up the country’s economic growth rate from seven percent in 2018 to eight percent in 2022, pushing the country into upper-middle income status by 2022, while reducing poverty incidence from 21.6 percent in 2015 to 14 percent in 2022.
It added agencies can transition to cash-based budgeting by planning well and early projects; propose projects that are ready for implementation; early procurement must be the rule; and formulate a procurement strategy.
“A multi-year planning perspective is even more significant now that the time horizon of the national budget has shortened. Program managers should have a clear plan on their targets in the medium term and the necessary resources to attain these,” it said.
It added agencies are encouraged to practice an increased discipline in managing their budgetary resources, and to carry out forward planning and risk management in proposing and implementing an annual cash-based budget.
It said in order to deliver a 12-month contract within the fiscal year, agencies should prepare budget proposals with a clear intent to conduct Early Procurement after the Executive has submitted the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to Congress.
“This way, 12-month contracts can be awarded within January of the fiscal year,” it added. (Antonio Colina IV of Mindanews)
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