To the Provincial Government of Zamboanga Sibugay and the City Government of Zamboanga;
League of Local Budget Officers (LLBO) - Region IX Inc. led by President Rosana T. Palalon;
Our very own DBM Regional Office IX, led by Director Mark Louie Martin;
Our local budget officers, Public Financial Management (PFM) practitioners, and all our participants;
Magandang araw po sa ating lahat! Buenas Dias, Zamboanga!
Assalamu alaikum wa Raḥmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
I am delighted to join all of you today, although virtually, for the closing program of our Public Financial Management Competency Program or PFMCP. Maraming salamat po sa pagdalo at mabuhay po kayo, mga minamahal naming local budget officers at PFM practitioners, sapagkat kayo ang nagsisilbing katuwang namin sa paghahatid ng de-kalidad na serbisyo sa publiko.
Kaya naman po nagsusumikap kami na dalhin ang PFMCP sa inyo, kasama ang PHILLBO, kung saan targeted at nakatuon talaga sa ating mga LGUs.
For the past few days, our top-caliber subject matter experts walked you through the PFM fundamentals and introduced you to courses on Spearheading Budget Preparation, Participating in Budget Authorization and Review, and Budget Execution and Accountability. Ultimately, our goal in PFMCP is to promote good governance, financial accountability, and effective resource management in your respective localities.
We are also fortunate to have our Procurement Service (PS-DBM) on board, especially now that we are getting closer to having a New Government Procurement Act! Now, we can all look forward to a procurement system that is more attuned to the changing times. We will even have an e-marketplace for common-use supplies under PS-DBM. And because we want to be sustainable, we also have a Green Public Procurement Strategy to ensure the reduced environmental impact of our procured goods and services.
Alongside our procurement wins, we have also ramped up our digital transformation, resulting in the full adoption of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), with the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS) as the centralized database for all government financial operations.
In a few weeks, we will also launch our PFM Reforms Roadmap 2024 to 2028, the blueprint that will harmonize PFM policies across agencies and enable the full digitalization of PFM processes.
We are likewise gearing up for the submission of our FY 2025 National Expenditure Program while we are implementing the FY 2024 National Budget amounting to Php 5.768 trillion, wherein no less than Php 1.011 trillion[1] is allocated to Local Government Units. Of this amount, some Php 35.23[2] billion is allotted for Region IX. On top of this, Zamboanga will also receive Php 35.16 billion[3] from the LGUs' share from the FY 2024 National Tax Allotment. I hope that all these will be fully utilized para mas makita pa po natin ang kagandahan ng Bagong Pilipinas dito sa rehiyon and because ultimately, that is also the wisdom of the Mandanas-Garcia Supreme Court Ruling: to empower our LGUs to serve the people in your localities faster and better.
Kaya sama-sama po nating paigtingin at pagitingin ang ating mga LGUs sa pamamagitan ng wasto at tapat na pagsasagawa at paggamit ng inyong mga budget tungo sa Bagong Pilipinas kung saan walang Pilipino ang maiiwanan, at kung saan ang gobyerno ay pinagkakatiwalaan ng mamamayan.
Maraming salamat po.
Mabuhay po ang Zamboanga! Mabuhay ang Pilipino at ang Bagong Pilipinas!
Wabillahi Tawfiq Wal Hidaya, Wasalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.
