COTABATO CITY – Stakeholders of Bottom-up Budgeting (BuB) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) gathered for a two-day summit in this city to further enhance the program and strengthen government and basic sector partnership.
Dubbed ‘ARMM BuB Summit’, the activity started on Wednesday, December 16 and concluded on Thursday, December 17. The summit was convened by the region’s Interior and Local Government department (DILG-ARMM) and the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC).
Over 90 local chief executives and 111 representatives from civil society organizations from different towns and provinces, officials of regional line agencies such as Departments of Health, Social Welfare and Development, and Education, as well as representatives from national oversight agencies participated in the BuB activity.
“This program seeks to increase citizen’s access to local service delivery through demand-driven budget planning process, and to strengthen government accountability,” Anwar Malang, ARMM’s secretary of Interior and Local Government said.
Jose Eliseo Rocamora, NAPC secretary said the BuB Summit also covered the current implementation of the program in the ARMM, generate solutions to problems identified in the implementation and lay-out fundamental agreements on the proposed direction for BuB in 2017. A total of P20 billion will be allocated for BuB 2017 program nationwide.
Bottom-up Budgeting is an approach in formulating budget proposals of national government agencies, taking into consideration the development needs of poor cities, or towns, as identified in their respective local poverty reduction action plans. Such plans are formulated with strong participation from basic sectors and civil society organizations.
Among the BuB-funded projects implemented in the region are provisions of community water supply systems and new health centers, and initiatives on gender and development. From 2013 to 2015, a total of 119 projects under BuB have been completed and 144 more projects are on going.
Meanwhile, ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman formally received 97 brand new patrol cars as part of BuB program for the region. DILG Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento led the turnover of the patrol cars, which would be distributed to the different police offices in the region.
Gov. Hataman said the patrol cars will boost the region’s law enforcement capability specifically at local government level. The Police Regional Office-ARMM headed by Chief of Police Ronald Estilles and other officials were present during the turnover ceremony.
Local government units in the ARMM have been part of the BuB program implementation since it started in 2012. The reform program is implemented by the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster of the national government with the objective of attaining the Philippine Development Plan’s goals of inclusive growth and poverty reduction, and to promote good governance at the local government level. (Bureau of Public Information)
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