A pleasant day to my fellow public servants gathered here today for another round of budget preparations. As we start the new year, we are also given this brand-new opportunity to be of service to the Filipino people.

Just a month ago, on December 16, 2022, the FY 2023 National Budget was signed into law by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. This is historically the fastest signing of the General Appropriations Act and this milestone would not have been possible without your contribution.

Preparing the FY 2023 budget has been challenging to say the least, as we trudged through a crucial transition period of post-pandemic recovery while battling various inflationary pressures and external conflicts. Still, we did what we were called to do, made the most out of the limited fiscal space that we have, and crafted a national budget that is responsive to the most immediate and pressing needs of every individual, family, and entity in the country.

Thankfully, for Fiscal Year 2024, we have a blueprint by which we can achieve our socioeconomic development goals—the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework or MTFF. With clear macroeconomic objectives that will steer the economy back to its high-growth trajectory and promote medium-term fiscal sustainability, we will continue to implement risk-managed interventions in the areas of food security, transport and logistics, energy, health, education, social protection, bureaucratic efficiency, and fiscal management, among others.

As we have emphasized in our National Budget Memorandum No. 145 and Corporate Budget Memorandum No. 45, the FY 2024 budget proposal should incorporate the priorities and policy directions of the Marcos Jr. Administration as embodied in the 8-point Socioeconomic Agenda and the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028. These are aimed at achieving economic and social transformation for a prosperous, inclusive, and resilient society.

We will continue to prioritize infrastructure development as we Build, Better, More—while continuing to support areas that are the poorest, that are lagging, and those that are vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters.

Of course, our Local Government Units (LGUs) should not be left behind so we will continue to provide funds for their capacity building so they can better assume their devolved functions and services.

But given the competing demands of government programs against a backdrop of limited resources, we will ensure that only implementation-ready agency proposals are included in the FY 2024 National Budget. As such, the agencies' budget proposals should contain concrete program plans and designs so we can manage our budget efficiently and effectively.

This, in fact, is the key feature of our Cash Budgeting System or CBS which will be insitutionalized by the Progressive Budgeting for Better and Modernized Governance or the PBBM Governance Bill. We will likewise continue our pursuit of digital transformation, including the adoption of the Integrated Financial Management Information Systems to enhance the Budget and Treasury Management System or BTMS—one of our major reforms as part of our digital transformation roadmap.

Further, we will continue to support the Administration’s goal of ensuring sustainable management and use of natural resources by 2030. Our Government Procurement Policy Board will spearhead the implementation of the Green Public Procurement or the GPP Roadmap to integrate green choices in public procurement.

As always, we will also look into the agencies' previous year budget utilization and performance as part of its evaluation process.

With all these guiding frameworks, we will consolidate and optimize the resources of the national government to gain its maximum benefit and multiplier effects for the economy.

Finally, let us continue to regain public trust and confidence by adopting our existing reforms for greater budget transparency, openness, accountability, and reliability. These include, among others, the 2-Tier Budgeting Approach; the disaggregation of lump-sum amounts within the agency-specific budgets; a well-functioning, results-based and credible monitoring and evaluation system; and the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to strengthen participation of civil society organizations and ensure sustainability of budget and governance reforms.

I will not take too much of your time as you have a long day—and maybe even night—ahead of you. As a final remark, I would like to salute all our civil servants from the DBM, the national government agencies, and GOCCs, for your unwavering commitment and dedication to serve the people. You are all instrumental in furthering—and finally achieving—our pursuit of economic transformation.

Assalamu alaikum. Maraming salamat at mabuhay tayong lahat.