GOVPH

  The Civil Service Commission (CSC), Commission on Audit (COA), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), determined to provide further protection to Contract of Service (COS) and Job Order (JO) workers in the government, issued on June 15, 2017 Joint Circular No. 1, s. 2017, with the subject "Rules and Regulations Governing Contract of Service and Job Order Workers in the Government". The Joint Circular provides for additional protection to the COS or JO workers by ensuring that agencies avail of services only of legitimate service providers through institutional contract of service who are duly registered with the Department of Labor and Employment, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Department of Trade and Industry or Securities and Exchange Commission, Social Security System, Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG), and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation. The duly registered service providers shall be responsible for providing compensation and benefits that are compliant with existing labor laws. On the other hand, individuals engaged through contracts of service shall be paid the prevailing market rates, subject to the provisions of Republic Act No. 9184 (Government...

       The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is open to evaluating the proposal of the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the conversion of the employment status of 12,000 job order (JO) or memorandum of agreement (MOA) workers into contractual personnel as soon as the DSWD submits its formal request for the purpose. As ofApril 26, 2018, the DBM has only received the DSWD’s budget proposal for FY 2019 which included around P5.9B for the aforesaid conversion. Said budget proposal shall be evaluated by DBM based on the policies and guidelines for the FY 2019 budget preparation.      At present, the DBM is evaluating a prior request from DSWD for the conversion of 734 JO or MOA workers into contractual personnel who are assigned in DSWD’s 71 residential/non-residential centers/institutions nationwide and are providing services to the disadvantaged children, youth, women, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities. Said request was submitted by the DSWD to the DBM on February 09, 2018.        The Personnel Services (PS) requirement per annum for the conversion of the employment status of said 734 MOA workers will amount to P236.6 M. The DBM is evaluating the request based on...

Government spending in March 2018 reached P313.1 billion, higher by 30% year-on-year, sustaining the robust growth in disbursements for the first three months of the year. In total, government disbursements reached P782 billion in the first quarter of the year, higher by 27% from the comparable period last year.            “The outlook on government spending remains sanguine, and we expect government spending to prop up the growth prospects of the Philippine economy as we aim for economic expansion at the rate of 7% to 8% in the medium-term,” said Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno.   Drivers of Spending Growth in March 2018         Subsidy paced spending in March as it reached P35.2 billion, higher by P26.8 billion or 320% year-on-year. This is on account of the first batch of releases for health insurance premiums of senior citizens, amounting to P15.1 billion, under the National Health Insurance Program. P4.3 billion was also downloaded for the Tax Reform Cash Project under the Land Bank for some 1.8 million CCT-beneficiary households. Other significant items include the P3.4 billion subsidy to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) for its irrigation projects, P1.8 billion...

[Photo from L to R] DOF Asec. Ma. Teresa Habitan, NEDA Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, DBM Secretary Benjamin Diokno and BSP MBM Felipe Medalla discuss updates  on the government's medium-term fiscal program to media. (April 24, 2018)   MANILA--Earlier today, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), chaired by Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, updated the medium-term fiscal program of the government in time for the preparation of the 2019 National Budget. Aside from the Budget Secretary, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez and Socio-economic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia were also in attendance for the 172nd DBCC meeting.   The medium-term revenue program was revised upwards, considering the impact of Package 1A and 1B of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program. This puts programmed revenues for FY 2018 at P2.846 trillion, higher by P57.3 billion compared to the previously approved level of P2.789 trillion. Package 1A and 1B of the Tax Reform Program will contribute P124.9 billion in FY 2018 rising to P215.8 billion in 2022. In total, revenues are projected to rise from 16.3% of GDP in 2018 to as much as 17.5% of GDP in 2022, or a nominal amount of...

  On the third day of the World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund (WBG-IMF) Spring Meetings, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno met with top officials of the World Bank to discuss best practices on social protection and community-driven development. The technical dialogue with World Bank Country Director Mara Warwick sought ways to better implement the flagship social protection programs of the Philippine government as well as explore possible avenues of cooperation in terms of technical assistance and financing.   Some of the anti-poverty programs discussed in the meeting include the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program and the Community-Driven Development (CDD) Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). In the 2018 National Budget, the CCT Program has a budget of P89.4 billion ($1.8 billion)  while the CDD Program has an allocation of P5.4 billion ($108 million).   In particular, the World Bank lauded the efforts of the Philippine government as its CCT program, dubbed the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), is now the world’s third-largest cash assistance program based on population coverage. The multilateral institution also noted the...

Government disbursements in February surged by 37%, year-on-year, on the back of higher spending on public infrastructure and social services programs. Government spending reached a total of P240.3 billion in February 2018 with an uptick in the major expense classes, namely Personnel Services (PS), Maintenance and Other Operating Expenditures (MOOE), and Capital Outlays (CO).   “Spending data for the first two months of the year bode well for our fiscal and economic growth targets,” said Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno. “With a strong boost from government spending, we expect first quarter economic growth to approach the government’s full-year target of 7% - 8%,” the Budget Secretary added.   The Build Build Build Program continues to provide momentum to spending growth as Infrastructure and Other Capital Outlays grew by 44%, year-on-year, as it reached P50.5 billion in February. Items that contributed to the growth in capital spending include: completed infrastructure projects of the DPWH such as improvement and rehabilitation of dike systems, flood control and mitigation structures, and construction of roads, bridges and school buildings; the acquisition of...