CSOs Crunch Numbers for the 2014 Local Budget

Nothing could be better than people’s participation in determining the country’s national budget.

Civil society organizations welcomed the new opportunity for participation  offered by the Aquino administration when they launched a new initiative in crafting the national budget – Bottom-up Budgeting (BUB) process, piloted in 609 identified cities and municipalities in early 2012 for the 2013 budget.

This innovative approach encourages active and meaningful participation of  citizens in the planning of the local poverty reduction programs and government budget that address local poverty and help ensure the creation of an open and accountable government.

BuB 2014, the second round, which started last December 2012, was done in 1,233 identified cities and municipalities. The local poverty reduction action plans (LPRAPs) were crafted  by the Local Government Units (LGUs) in partnership with the local CSOs and National Government Agencies (NGAs) and submitted last February 2013 to the regional poverty reduction action teams (RPRATs) for validation.

To  support  this pioneering  mechanism, the Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO) forged a partnership with the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) under the Empowerment Poor Program to implement a project entitled “Building and Strengthening Local CSO-LGU-NGA Partnerships for Poverty Reduction” last June 2012. This project provided a venue to promote people’s participation initiatives in the localization of poverty reduction and good governance and in Bottom-up Budgeting.

The 20 municipalities from Bicol, CARAGA and Eastern Visayas engaged in this project  focused on strengthening the capacities, skills and knowledge of the CSO leaders in effectively participating in local government processes, constructive engagement, organizing and network building. Through this project, local CSO networks were formed and/or strengthened and they were guided and assisted their active involvement and participatory engagement in the BuB 2014 process.

In the assessment and evaluation phase of this project, CODE-NGO conducted 3 regional consultations in Eastern Visayas, CARAGA and Bicol last March 14-15, 18-19 and 22-23, 2013, respectively. A total of 60 participants from the 20 municipalities/project areas and other areas of the member networks and partner organizations participated in the consultations. The consultations were made  to evaluate the gains and gaps of CSO participation in the recent BuB process.  These were intended to assess the “quantity and quality” involvement of the CSOs in the BuB  process for CY2014 at the local level; share the lessons learned and provide policy/program recommendations to BuB 2015 for the concerned agencies of the government and for CSOs; and plan for the CSOs’ involvement in the implementation of the BuB projects in CY2013.

The consolidated assessment and recommendations from these regional consultations will be discussed and shared through a national forum  scheduled on April 11 – 12, 2013 at the Institute of Social Order, Ateneo De Manila University, Quezon City. — By Mhafe Del Mundo, Project Monitoring Officer, CODE-NGO