To our Executive Secretary, Honorable Lucas P. Bersamin;
Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Assistant Secretary Roderick M. Planta;
Representatives from our top-performing agencies: Civil Service Commission and the Philippine Information Agency;
My dearest colleagues and fellow public servants at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and the media representatives present here today, good morning.
Assalamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
Let me begin by congratulating everyone behind the enhanced Agency Performance Review (APR) Report, which we are proudly launching today as the Budget ng Bayan Monitor.
The Agency Performance Review is actually an old and standard practice here at the Department. However, as we increase and strengthen our commitments for transparency and accountability, especially as we lead efforts for the Philippine-Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP) and aim to be a model of open governance not only in the region but in the world—since the Philippines has joined the global OGP Steering Committee—we have now enhanced this APR and will continue to improve this in the years to come. This is to make our agencies not only more efficient but also real models of real public service to the people.
Towards this end, we issued Circular Letter No. 2025-2 last February 10, outlining the guidelines for conducting the enhanced APR for FY 2024 and beyond. We are maintaining our previous best practices, but we have now introduced new measures for accountability, including the Self-Assessed Financial and Physical Performance Tool, the APR Scorecard, and Performance Dialogues to better evaluate agencies’ financial performance, physical performance, and the timeliness and quality of their reports.
I am proud to note that 95 percent of the evaluated agencies for FY 2024 earned an Outstanding, Very Satisfactory, or Satisfactory rating.
In particular, allow us to congratulate the 14 agencies, among whom are the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), who are present here today, for achieving a perfect rating of 5.0. This means that they have excelled in financial management, met or surpassed all their physical targets, and submitted timely, high-quality reports. You are a shining example of agencies that embody the saying that public service is a public trust.
In addition, as you might have noticed in the news, we have been conducting site visits to monitor the implementation of key government initiatives, particularly flood control and active transport infrastructure projects.
Personal po nating ininspeksyon ang mga ito dahil hindi naman nakikita lang sa papel ang tunay na nangyayari sa ating mga proyekto. At nais po talaga namin sa DBM na bawat budget ay mauwi sa inaasahang resulta at maghatid ng mas maginhawang buhay para sa ating mga kababayan. Dito po, Bawat Budget Mahalaga.
On this note, allow me to acknowledge the National Government Agencies (NGAs), Other Executive Offices (OEOs), Constitutional Commissions, and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) that contributed to the completion and publication of our Budget ng Bayan Monitor.
Of course, allow me to recognize the very hard-working men and women of DBM, especially from the Budget Preparation and Execution (BPE) Group, headed by Usec. Rolando U. Toledo and ASec. Rhea Dela Vega, for contributing to this success!
As we submit this report to the Office of the President through our Executive Secretary, I would like to especially thank our President, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., for supporting us in our reforms and for always inspiring us to be better public servants.
Kaya kasama po ng ating mahal na Pangulo, sama-sama po nating pangalagaan ang budget ng bayan at lalo pa nating palakasin ang Bagong Pilipinas—isang bansang may maayos, mabilis, at epektibong serbisyo publiko na maaasahan ng bawat Pilipino.
Maraming salamat po! Mabuhay ang DBM! Mabuhay ang mga ahensya at kawani ng gobyerno! Mabuhay ang Bagong Pilipinas!
END
