To the Philippine League of Local Budget Officers, Inc., congratulations on your 25th Annual Convention Seminar!

Your event’s theme, “Reinvigorating Local Autonomy Through Creative Budgeting,” couldn’t have been timelier, as we have just presented the administration’s first National Expenditure Program to Congress on August 22.

Indeed, the crafting of the FY 2023 National Budget required creativity and resourcefulness—coupled with our unwavering commitment to serve the Filipino people—as our fiscal space was pushed to its limits by the COVID-19 pandemic, various inflationary pressures, and external crises.

Amounting 5.268 trillion pesos, the next fiscal year’s budget is anchored on the theme, “Agenda for Prosperity: Economic Transformation Towards Inclusivity and Sustainability.” This is encapsulated under the administration’s 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda and anchored on these pillars:

• Strengthening the purchasing power of Filipinos;
• Reducing vulnerability and mitigating scarring from the COVID-19 pandemic;
• Ensuring sound macroeconomic fundamentals; and finally,
• Supporting local governments.

And our economic transformation agenda will not be truly inclusive without our local governments. In fact, the FY 2023 National Budget highlights full devolution which allows our local governments to directly implement programs and interventions tailor-fit to the needs of their constituents.

As reflected in the President’s Budget Message, the proposed 2023 National Budget sets aside 28.9 billion pesos for the Local Government Support Fund or LGSF, 60.7 percent higher than the 18.0 billion pesos appropriated in 2022. This is on top of the 820.3 billion pesos indicative just share of the LGUs from 2023 national tax collections.

But we also recognize the different financial capacities of LGUs for greater devolution. With this, the national government will be providing capacity development interventions, which include technical guidance through the issuance of NGA Devolution Transition Plans, and provision of capacity development trainings and technical assistance on local planning, investment programming, budgeting and revenue generation measures by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Budget and Management, and Department of Finance-Bureau of Local Government Finance.

And all of you here today—local chief executives, chairpersons of the Committee on Appropriations of the Sanggunian, members of the Local Finance Committees, and our public financial managers—play a crucial role in ensuring that this budget will be truly responsive to every need of every Filipino and improve their quality of life.

I am positive that this convention will realize its objective to equip our local financial managers with knowledge on emerging development trends and concepts that impact financial management at the local level.

The members of DBM’s Executive Committee are likewise here to impart crucial information on local government budget policies, and compensation and position classification system for local government units, among others.

Rest assured that the DBM will always be here to provide guidance and technical assistance should you need any. 

In the same manner, we invite you to join us in implementing various budget reforms that will allow us to effectively and efficiently lead public expenditure management and ensure the equitable, prudent, transparent, and accountable allocation and use of public funds.

Congratulations once again and mabuhay tayong lahat!