The Public Financial Management (PFM) Committee of the Philippine Government is moving full speed ahead with the implementation of key reforms following the conduct of the workshop series titled “Philippines’ PFM Reforms: From Strategy to Action.”
Held from May 6 to 9, 2025, at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Headquarters in Mandaluyong City, the workshop series was participated in by more than 200 representatives from various government agencies and development partners. The four-day collaborative workshop series also served as an avenue to concretize action plans for highly critical reforms targeted for implementation in 2025 to 2026.
In a recorded message, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary and PFM Committee Chairperson Amenah F. Pangandaman reaffirmed the administration’s preparedness in putting the strategies under the PFM Reforms Roadmap into action.
“Conducting this workshop just eight months after we officially endorsed the PFM Reforms Roadmap to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is proof that when committed PFM advocates are guided by a clear vision, we don’t wait for the perfect moment. We create the momentum and move forward with determination,” the Budget Chief shared.
Strengthening collaboration, sustaining momentum
To ensure that the government makes significant headway in implementing the Roadmap, partner inter-agency Technical Working Groups (TWGs) and new PFM Committee Task Teams conducted breakout sessions to examine their progress on each of the Roadmap’s 11 Strategic Focus Areas (SFAs), namely Planning and Budgeting Linkage, Cash Management, Public Asset Management, Accounting and Auditing, Capacity Development, Digital PFM, PFM Policy and Legal Framework, Public Procurement, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM), PFM for Local Government Units (LGUs), and Monitoring and Evaluation for Public Expenditure.
Subsequent plenaries then served as feedback mechanisms where partners received additional insights on their identified priority activities, implementing strategies, and targets for 2025 to 2026.
Recommendations from the 2024 Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA++) and Disaster Resilient and Responsive Public Financial Management (DRR-PFM) Assessments were also presented to the concerned agencies ahead of its launch in June 2025.
The PFM Committee and its members likewise discussed monitoring and reporting mechanisms to be adopted for the mandatory periodic progress reports—another milestone that will ensure the sustained momentum in the operationalization of the Roadmap.
Renewing partnerships, commitments
Meanwhile, DBM Undersecretary and Chief Information Officer (CIO) Maria Francesca M. Del Rosario facilitated a roundtable discussion to identify possible areas of collaboration that development partners can support to harmonize resources and avoid duplication of work.
Led by the ADB, among the development partners who manifested support at the roundtable discussion include the World Bank, French Development Agency (AFD), German Development Agency (GIZ), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) of the Australian Embassy, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the UN System: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Philippines, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and UN Resident Coordinator's Office (UNRCO).
In his opening remarks, ADB Financial Management Division Director Srinivasan Janardanam highlighted that the ADB’s commitment to supporting this agenda is rooted in PFM being at the heart of one of ADB’s key operational priorities.
On behalf of the Philippine Government and the PFM Committee, Department of Finance OIC Undersecretary Niño Raymond B. Alvina extended his gratitude to partners, whom he called “co-engineers in strengthening the pillars of good governance and co-architects of the Philippines’ growth and progress story.”
Similarly, ADB’s Principal Financial Management Specialist Maria Joao Kaizeler reminded that these reforms will resonate for generations: “In a democratic country like the Philippines, good governance thrives when PFM systems are transparent, accountable, and inclusive.”
Led by DBM’s Fiscal Planning and Reforms Bureau, headed by Director Mary Joy O. De Leon, the workshop will contribute to the release of a detailed action plan for the PFM Reforms Roadmap and serve as a pre-work to the mid-term review and updating of the Roadmap expected to be completed by year-end and published by 2026.
Other DBM officials present in the four-day workshop include Undersecretary Rolando U. Toledo, and Assistant Secretaries Romeo Matthew T. Balanquit, Mary Anne Z. Dela Vega; Atty. Diana C. Camacho-Mercado, and Leonido J. Pulido III.
END
