“Enjoy the leadership, take the challenge,” said Paul Richard Paraguya, CODE-NGO Project Manager and NAPC NGO Sector Representative, to the attendees of the Bottom-up Budgeting (BUB) 383 Luzon Conference last June 16-17, 2015 at the Institute of Social Order (ISO), Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City. It was a two day event, which aimed to discuss the existing challenges, experiences, as well as the future of Bottom-up Budgeting in the 383 municipalities of the Philippines.

Monitoring groups’ knowledge on BUB and its importance was supplemented by the talks provided by CODE-NGO, spearheaded by Dino Soliman, BUB 383 Coordinator. This was done in partnership with the Commission on Human Rights and UNICEF, represented by Director of Research and Education Anna Elyza Ofreneo and Mr. Rommel Martinez, respectively.

The Bottom-up Budgeting, in its simplest definition, is a process of transferring money or budget from the national government to the local government. The project was implemented with the vision that local government must be the one to initiate, implement and even monitor their own projects given the sufficient knowledge they have within their area. In formulating the budget proposal of agencies, the respective local poverty reduction action plans formulated with strong participation of basic sectors and civil society organizations should be taken into consideration.

The on-going BUB project of the government received mixed opinions from the monitoring groups. For example, the municipalities of Capalongan and Basud, both located in Camarines Norte, voiced out their different experiences with the LGUs. In Capalongan, the monitoring groups felt that the government was not that participative enough, citing the reason that information given to them was limited. On the other hand, the monitoring group in Basud felt that the LGUs appreciate their presence.

Another problem discussed during the event is the menu, which contains the guidelines on what projects or programs can be under the BUB. One deemed that the menu is good for the government since it clarifies what projects is allowable or not; however for CSOs, it still depends. The monitoring groups agreed to this, believing that the menu is limiting and needs to be modified depending on the needs of an area. Quoting one representative of Pasay, “The current menu is more applicable in the province and only 30% can be applied to urban areas.”

Paraguya, in his concluding remarks, concurred that obstacles will always be part of BUB. However, CSOs must not worry as long as they coordinate and work together.

Kerby Gonzaga spent his internship at CODE-NGO, assisting the Knowledge Development and Management as well as the Membership Program. He is a senior Political Science major from the University of Santo Tomas (UST).