MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration would put in place measures that would make the budget process more transparent and accountable, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said yesterday.
Abad laid down several measures to make the process more transparent including a reduction in the number of special purpose funds and lump-sum releases to users.
Lump sum releases for instance would be contingent only on master plans or network plans as in the case of the irrigation and farm-to-market road lump-sum funds, he said.
“The new government understands very well that prudent and responsible public expenditure management can be best achieves if transparency and accountability are hallmarked in the budget process,”Abad said.
Yesterday, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) launched the Open Budget Index for 2010 which gives the Philippines a rating of 55, up from 48 percent in the survey held in 2008.
Abad said the Philippines can raise the standards even further for budget transparency in the Philippines.
He noted that President Aquino is committed to “transparency, accountability and good governance.”
One initiative, Abad noted, is the Reform Budget for 2011 which is now awaiting Congressional approval.
He said that integrated with the P1.645-trillion budget proposal for 2011 submitted to Congress are special provisions to institute transparency and accountability such as the publication of complete information on budgetary allocations and disbursements in the websites of the Department of Budget and Management and implementation agencies.
Furthermore, he said that the Philippine Government E-Procurement System or PhilGEPS would be capable of enabling the online bidding of government contracts by the first quarter of next year.
Finally, Abad said the government is strengthening “internal control systems to reduce waste and corruption, improving the predictability of funds and cash releases, improving public expenditure and financial accountability systems and having a Medium-Term Expenditure Framework that will ensure that expenditures are driven by strategic priorities.“
The department would soon disclose information on the lump-sum releases made in 2009 for the Department of Public Works and Highways, the School Building Fund and the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).