To the members of the Public Financial Management or PFM Committee and Secretariat;
Distinguished colleagues in public service;
Representatives from our Task Teams and partner inter-agency Technical Working Groups;
Our development partners and consultants from the Asian Development Bank;
A pleasant morning to all of you!
I am honored to open this High-Level Validation Workshop for the Midterm Review and Updating of the PFM Reforms Roadmap 2024 to 2028.
Following this roadmap, which was launched early on in this administration under the leadership of our former Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman and which I am pleased to continue, we have made significant strides in implementing our PFM Reform Agenda under our three-phased approach.
Phase 1 allowed us to define a clear medium-term vision through 41 interventions across 11 strategic focus areas to guide our collective reform agenda.
Phase 2, the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability or PEFA++, Disaster Resilient and Responsive PFM, and Child-Responsive PFM Assessments, provided a comprehensive diagnosis of our systems, which further identified remaining gaps that needed new interventions.
Now in Phase 3, we are in the pivotal stage of our reform work. This will allow us to take a clear look at the Roadmap we crafted in Phase 1 and align it with the PEFA results and the latest developments in the PFM landscape.
Through focus group discussions with our Task Teams and TWGs, and regional consultations across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, we captured the perspectives of our PFM practitioners on the ground. With these insights, we are now well-positioned to carry out the midterm updating of the Roadmap and ensure that our priorities conform with international PFM standards, while remaining firmly grounded in implementation realities.
This workshop serves as a strategic venue to validate what we have accomplished, address what remains unfinished, and recalibrate our priorities for the next three years.
And your presence and insights today matter as each of you plays a vital role in driving the reforms that strengthen good governance.
Because first, sound budget management is essential to confront the issues that continue to challenge our PFM systems today, including leakages, inefficiencies, and the persistent risks of corruption.
Our citizens are demanding accountable governance, where every peso is delivered to where it is due. Needless to say, our budget must be credible, transparent, and aligned with national priorities. This requires strong planning and budgeting linkages, disciplined cash and asset management, effective monitoring and evaluation, and a digital PFM environment that strengthens controls and reduces opportunities for misuse.
Second, PFM reforms cannot succeed in silos. The Roadmap’s success depends on our work as a whole-of-government. The assessments we conducted revealed that many of our gaps are systemic, cutting across agencies, processes, and mandates. A coordinated and harmonized approach is therefore essential. When our systems speak to each other, when our policies are aligned, and when our institutions move in the same direction, we create a PFM environment that is resilient, responsive, and future-ready.
The next two days will be an opportunity to ensure this alignment. As we review the Reform Action Plans for each Strategic Focus Area, let us examine the gaps, validate the proposed interventions, and decide on what must be prioritized until 2028 and beyond.
As always, the Department of Budget and Management stands ready to support the implementation of the updated PFM Reforms Roadmap. And as Chair of the PFM Committee principals, I reaffirm our commitment to fostering collaboration across agencies and championing reforms that strengthen fiscal discipline, improve budget execution, and enhance accountability across the public sector.
The fruits of the discussions here will certainly be essential in fulfilling our long-term commitment to achieving not only efficiency but also transparency and accountability in government so let us give our best for a productive and meaningful workshop.
Maraming salamat po!
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