Mr. Arnel Satumba, TODO Treasurer, one of the members of the joint planning committee of the BUB in Hilongos, Leyete.

Members of the Taksikad Operators and Drivers’ Organization (TODO) in Hilongos, Leyte earn an average of P280 a day transporting passengers in a tricycad, a three-wheeled bicycle. Of this income, 20% or P50 goes to rental costs of the tricycad (for members who do not own their bikes). Through the Bottom Up Budgeting (BUB) program, thirty members of TODO have been given brand new tricycads, relieving them of the burden of daily rent. They now have the option of paying a voluntary fee of P35 to TODO in exchange for the tricycads they received. This initiative is just one of the many success stories born from the BUB.

The BUB is a governance reform initiated by the Aquino administration in 2012 that mandates the strong participation of organized communities and civil society organizations (CSOs) in formulating national agency budgets at the municipal/ city level. The pioneering reform of the BUB is the joint decision-making mechanism between the local government unit (LGU) and civil society organizations (CSO) in identifying and approving projects that will reduce poverty. Decision-making power that has typically been owned by governments is now being shared with civil society. Through the BUB, civil society has been given space and voice in an unprecedented way.

The first three years of BUB implementation have been met with challenges, various levels of successes and resulted in many lessons learned, especially for civil society.

Critics have been quick to point out that CSOs lack the technical capacity to engage in planning and budgeting. This has been the case in areas where CSO presence is weak or not well-organized. Yet there are CSOs that have maximized the opportunity given by the BUB to exercise power and voice. In the municipality of Banaybanay, Davao Oriental, the sectors of indigenous peoples, farmers, cooperatives, labor groups and youth banded together to strategically plan their participation in the BUB. They organized a series of CSO-only discussions where they analyzed their municipality’s poverty situation and agreed on a consolidated agenda. They brought this agenda to the negotiating table with the LGU. As a result, they had a unified position and strong influence on the outcome of the joint planning. Several other CSOs, under the Citizens’ Participation in Monitoring of LGU Performance (CML) project of CODE-NGO with the European Union have successfully duplicated this strategy of network building and agenda development.

As CSOs strive to maximize their participation, some LGUs have struggled to provide the leadership required for the success of the BUB. There have been Local Chief Executives (LCEs) or mayors that insist on retaining full control over the planning and budgeting process. In a municipality in Eastern Visayas, the mayor criticized all the proposals of the CSOs and threatened to withhold support if the CSOs would not give in to her demands. Throughout the BUB, CSOs have been challenged on how to negotiate such situations. The first reaction has been to remain assertive while being diplomatic. Appealing to regional and national authority has also proven to be effective. The CSOs in the above case appealed to the regional DILG office to intervene and talk with the LCE. At times, the only recourse has been to compromise with the LGU. For instance, in some municipalities, the joint decision-making body would agree that half of the projects would originate from the CSOs while the other half would originate from the LGU. While there have been problematic LCEs, there have also been LGUs that have shown full support and openness. In the municipality of Sta. Margarita in Samar province, a CSO desk was established to serve as a secretariat in ensuring the participation of the CSOs in all BUB-related activities.

The most significant reform of the BUB has been the participatory mechanism of the program but its success ultimately relies on whether the planned and budgeted projects are implemented and truly address poverty. Unfortunately, there have been delays in the implementation and completion of projects, owing to missing requirements that LGUs have not submitted, slow feedback from the national agencies and other administrative and technical problems. Opportunities for CSO participation in the implementation and monitoring phase is still not clearly structured, posing a challenge for CSOs on how they can yet again claim space and voice in this area. Creative ideas, technical capacity, financial resources and advocacy are required so that CSOs can see through the gains that they have won in the planning phase of the BUB. Many lessons have been learned and will continue to be learned as CSOs maximize this unprecedented opportunity to participate in governance.

This article is based on a report called “Bottom-up Budgeting in the Philippines: Challenges, practices and opportunities,” produced by Australian Awards scholar Kimberly Ko, as part of her re-entry action plan (REAP). Kimberly graduated from the University of Queensland with a Masters in Development Practice in 2014. CODE-NGO provided support and mentorship in the development of the report.