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News
February 20, 2011
Congress urged to Act Fast on People’s
Participation in Budget Deliberations
Act
Members of
the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI),
the hundred-strong consortium of
non-government organizations that
annually formulates alternative budget
proposals for social development
budgets, called on Congressmen and
Senators to prioritize the passage of
the People’s Participation in Budget
Deliberations Act of 2010.
“Institutionalizing the participation of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in
the national and local budget is crucial
in the success of government efforts to
address poverty and inequality,” said
former national treasurer Leonor
Magtolis Briones, lead convenor of
Social Watch Philippines (SWP) which
leads the ABI.
“Participation of people’s groups that
represent the vulnerable sectors in
decision-making on the budget will help
address the grave inequality which is
the primary reason for repeated failures
of poverty alleviation strategies,”
Briones said. “Experiences of various
states, such as India, Brazil, Mexico
and Uganda showed that
institutionalizing people’s
participation in government budgeting
down the community level dramatically
improved the delivery of socioeconomic
services, especially to the marginalized
sectors,” she added.
Senate Bill 2186 and the enhanced
version of House Bill 219 set the
mechanisms for accreditation of NGOs and
people’s organizations to participate in
budget deliberations in the Senate,
House of Representatives and Local
Government Units; and to be involved in
the preparation of agency budgets. It
grants rights and entitlements to
accredited groups such as proposing
alternative budgets and alternative
sources of financing; participating in
budget deliberations at various levels
of Government; and serving as resource
persons during budget oversight.
Both Bills cited that the inspiration of
the proposed laws is the Social Watch
Philippines and Alternative Budget
Initiative’s four years of fruitful
experience in forging partnerships with
legislators to formulate and lobby for
alternative budget proposals for
increased allocation for education,
health, agriculture and environment.
Briones said that the Bills would help
put in place transparency and
accountability which are lacking in the
Philippine budget system. “The character
of the Philippine budget is an executive
budget where the President is in control
throughout the entire budget process. It
is based on a decree issued by the
dictatorial regime of President
Ferdinand Marcos that gives all the
powers to the executive,” Briones
explained.
Briones added that her study on people’s
participation in the Philippine budget
process, which was supported by the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
revealed that people’s participation in
public finance has accelerated but is
very uneven. “Government response is
very uneven. It differs among agencies,
among branches of government and among
legislators,” she said.
“We call on this Government to embed
people participation in all processes in
the public finance cycle. The immediate
passage of the People’s Participation in
Budget Deliberations Act of 2010 will
promote active citizenship, allowing the
people, especially the vulnerable
sectors, to be partners of Government in
implementing a people-oriented,
transparent and accountable budget
process,” Briones said.
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