Assalamu alaikum wa Raḥmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

To the Local Government of Cebu, represented by Mayor Michael Rama—maraming salamat po sa mainit na pagtanggap sa amin sa Department of Budget and Management (DBM);

To the Association of Local Budget Officers Central Visayas Inc. (ALBOCV) headed by President Samuel Penales;

To my DBM colleagues, most especially to the DBM-Regional Office VII led by Regional Director Lenin S. Bernales whose support has been invaluable to the success of this activity;

To our local budget officers and Public Financial Management (PFM) practitioners; and all our participants from Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor, Maayong adlaw sa inyong tanan! (Good day to everyone!). I am so happy to be back in Cebu!

Mahal na mahal ko po ang Cebu, kahit na hindi ako kumakain ng sinasabi nilang napakasarap ninyong lechon dahil bawal sa amin. Pero mayroon akong paborito dito, bukod sa napakatamis ninyong dried mangoes. Alam niyo, I was just in Cebu last August 2023 for the Philippine Economic Briefing at mayroon akong natikman na mula noon ay iniisip ko talaga kung paano ko mababalikan—ang Conching’s Native Chicken at ang kanilang Balbacua! Salamat sa PFMCP at sa PHILLBO, makaka-Conching's na rin po ako mamaya!

Pero ngayon, trabaho muna. Before anything else, allow me to sincerely thank all of you for taking the time to join our PFMCP despite your busy schedules. Through your participation in this program, I see how you value PFM and how eager you are to contribute to achieving our nation’s goals through proper budget and management. It truly warms my heart to see such an astounding number of enthusiastic participants for the second run of this year’s PFMCP for LGUs. And I hope everyone here today can draw inspiration from the venue of our event—the City of Progress, Mandaue City.

As you may know, we, at the DBM, are persistently working toward enhancing our PFM system. Part of our efforts to do so involves developing the capacities of our PFM practitioners—as you are the front liners in delivering quality services to the people we have sworn to serve. And I am proud to share that we have already empowered more than 3,000 PFM practitioners, and counting, nationwide.

I cannot emphasize enough the crucial role of PFM practitioners in bridging the needs of our fellow Filipinos and the government's responses, especially in crafting a truly inclusive and people-centered budget. And this is what the Bagong Pilipinas is all about—shaping a government that is truly responsive to the needs of the people; one that is visionary and accountable to its constituents; and one that fulfills its promise of prosperity to everyone. Our growth and prosperity will never be truly inclusive without our local governments.  

Kaya naman kami po ay nagsumikap na buuin ang PFM Competency Program na ito, kasama ang PHILLBO, na targeted at nakatuon lamang sa ating mga LGUs. Covering topics on budgeting, procurement, cash management, accounting, and even auditing, we have specifically designed this training program for LGUs to deepen your knowledge of PFM with the ultimate objective of promoting good governance, financial accountability, and effective resource management in your respective localities.

And so we hope that this program will assist you in fully utilizing your respective National Tax Allotment, among other budget allocations. We want to ensure better and strategic planning as we strive to improve our processes for budget preparation and budget execution. That is why in the past two days, you were given updates and information under the Foundation and Budgeting Tracks.

Meanwhile, today’s session tackled procurement. Napaka-importante po ng procurement track na ito dahil kailangang makabisado ninyo ang procurement processes upang ma-improve ang inyong budget utilization. Kaya kahit po ang ating mahal na Pangulo, Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., ay kinikilala ang kahalagahan ng procurement.

At dahil nais ng DBM na gawing mas efficient at mas transparent ang ating procurement, sinisikap po natin na magkaroon na ng new and improved Government Procurement Reform Act. And I am proud to report that the House Bill No. 9648 or the New Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA) already passed the House of Representatives and has ongoing deliberations in the Senate.

At gumawa na po ang PS-DBM ng e-marketplace. Parang Shopee o Lazada po ang sistemang ito kaya magiging mas madali, mas mabilis, at mas masaya na ang procurement.

And because we want to be sustainable, we also have a Green Public Procurement Strategy. Sisiguruhin rin po natin ang reduced environmental impact ng ating mga procured goods at infrastructure projects.

Alongside our procurement wins, we have also ramped up our digital transformation, resulting in the full adoption of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) through Executive Order No. 29. Through this, our PFM processes will be digitalized, with the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS) serving as a centralized database for all government financial operations.

We have also already started working on our budget for FY 2025. As you know, the FY 2024 budget was already signed into law by PBBM on December 20. This amounts to Php 5.768 trillion, higher by 9.5 percent compared to last year’s budget, wherein Php 1.004 trillion is allocated to Local Government Units, with Php 182.34 billion earmarked for Visayas, Php 61.58 billion for the development of Region VII, and Php 31.58 billion for Cebu alone.

We are also supporting the 65 infrastructure flagship projects of the PBBM Administration located in the Visayas, with an indicative total cost of Php 1.7 trillion, to boost growth in sectors such as tourism.

So I hope that all these will be fully utilized para makita po natin ang kagandahan ng Bagong Pilipinas dito sa Visayas!

So our dear planning and budget officers, and PFM practitioners, kayo po ang tulay upang maipaabot ng gobyerno ang ating mga serbisyo sa publiko at magkaroon ng PFM system na tunay na tumutugon sa pangangailangan ng ating mga pinaglilingkuran.

Makakaasa po kayong mas pagbubutihin pa po namin sa DBM at pagsusumikapan namin upang masiguro na ang National Budget ay tunay na para sa Pilipino at para patuloy na maihatid ng ating gobyerno hindi lamang ang capacity-building kundi pati ang mga serbisyong tumutugon sa mga pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan.

This PFM Competency Program will help you create and execute the necessary Programs, Activities, and Projects that will make your respective LGUs thrive because ultimately, that is the wisdom of the Mandanas-Garcia Supreme Court Ruling: to empower our LGUs to serve the people in your localities faster and better.

Kaya sama-sama po nating paigtingin at pagitingin ang ating mga LGU sa pamamagitan ng wasto at tapat na pagsasagawa at paggamit ng ating mga budget tungo sa Bagong Pilipinas kung saan walang Pilipino ang maiiwanan, at kung saan ang gobyerno ay pinagkakatiwalaan ng mamamayan.

Together, let us secure a future-proof and sustainable economy to achieve our Agenda for Prosperity.

Maraming salamat po. Daghang salamat, Cebu!

Mabuhay po ang Region VII! Mabuhay ang ating host city, Mandaue! Mabuhay ang Pilipino at ang Bagong Pilipinas.

Wabillahi Tawfiq Wal Hidaya, Wasalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.