Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman announced that there are no for-later-release (FLR) funds in the proposed national government budget for 2023.
During the second day of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC)’s briefing on the 2023 National Expenditure Program in the Senate, Secretary Pangandaman said that during her stint as DBM Undersecretary under the leadership of then DBM Chief and now Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, the term “FLR funds” was not used.
“Under Secretary Diokno po, wala po kaming tinatawag na FLR. So it’s actually something new to us when I reentered DBM,” Sec. Pangandaman said.
The Budget Chief further elaborated, “When I entered DBM, nakita ko po na napakaraming dokumento ang kailangan pirmahan at ipadala sa Office of the President. I thought then that it’s quite tedious for the staff and even the Office of the President na tumatagal po ‘yung sistema ng pagre-release ng budget. So pag-assume po natin, nagbigay po tayo ng instructions na wala na po dapat na for later release sa mga pondo po ng gobyerno.”
Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, remarked that FLR funds and cash-based budgeting are antithetical to each other. He cited economic principles of efficiency and opportunity cost as factors negating the utility of FLR funds.
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