MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has launched a dashboard designed to monitor and analyze the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) releases as part of its efforts to embrace digitalization and transparency.
In a statement yesterday, the DBM said the dashboard displays data on LGSF releases from fiscal year 2021 to present for the Support to the Barangay Development Program (SBDP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), Support and Assistance Fund to Participatory Budgeting (SAFPB), Growth Equity Fund (GEF) and the Green Green Green Program.
The LGSF is a fund allocation aimed at empowering local government units nationwide. It is intended to support the implementation of each LGU’s priority programs and projects within their respective jurisdictions under the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“At DBM, we embrace digitalization and transparency. Anyone can use the dashboard which is now up and running in the DBM website,” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said, LGSF fund releases can now be viewed anytime and anywhere with ease.
“It’s one of our initiatives to further promote transparency, informed decision-making, as well as effective budget oversight,” she added.
The dashboard displays key information, including the funding year, total and average support funds, the total number of funded projects and a geographical map of the Philippines.
Users can also utilize a filter panel to refine results by region, province and city/municipality, noting that the geographical map dynamically highlights the location of the selected region, province or city/municipality.
A bar graph illustrates each region’s share in the total released support funds, providing a clear visual breakdown by percentage.
The budget department said the LGSF dashboard will be updated every 15th day of each month, covering released funds in the preceding month.
Of the LGSF allocation for this year, the DBM said the P2.16 billion for the SBDP of the NTF-ELCAC has already been fully released. This funding supports a total of 885 projects and programs across 15 regions for the cleared barangays certified by the NTF-ELCAC.
Similarly, the P1-billion allocated budget for the LGSF-SAFPB has also been fully released to various LGUs. The fund supports 80 projects in 13 regions in the country, according to the DBM.
“This program aims to provide assistance to lagging municipalities for the construction, expansion and upgrading of water supply system projects identified through a local participatory budgeting process, which is anchored on the objectives of the Philippine Open Government Partnership,” the DBM said.
Under the FY 2023 GAA, the LGSF-GEF amounting to P1 billion has been fully released to 170 LGUs.
The DBM said this funding is designed to support the implementation of Level II or Level III water supply system projects of beneficiary municipalities, and priority programs and projects included in the respective Devolution Transition Plans of beneficiary barangays.
Further, a total of P1.055 billion has been allocated for the Green Green Green Program with 80 beneficiaries nationwide, composed of 38 LGUs in Luzon, 21 in Visayas and 21 in Mindanao.
The LGSF - Green Green Green Program aims to develop greener, more vibrant and well-connected public open spaces, fostering an active lifestyle and enhancing the overall wellness of the community.