To my dearest colleagues and fellow public servants from our government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions (GFIs), magandang hapon po sa ating lahat!
First of all, thank you for your presence at today’s Budget Preparation Forum. Your participation today is of utmost importance, that we may deliver a well-crafted budget that is truly responsive to the needs and aspirations of every Filipino.
As you know, in the first week of January, on January 5 to be exact, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 National Budget.
But before we move on to preparations for FY 2027, let's first look at the year that has passed.
Administrative and Fiscal Reforms
In 2025, it cannot be denied that we suffered from harsh revelations on corruption that we seek now to address.
However, neither must we forget that 2025 was also a year wherein significant progress was made in pursuing reforms and enhancing our government systems. Let me name a few:
First, we tremendously increased our level of public participation. In fact, last May 2025 during the Open Government Week, the DBM—as Chair of both the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) and the Open Government Partnership (OGP)—for the first time not only allowed but invited Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to have a consultation with our economic managers on the macroeconomic targets of our country which were presented for consideration at our DBCC meeting.
It did not stop there. We followed through with further consultations with CSOs not just in the NCR, but also in Central Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, allowing us to gather insights and directly address budget-related concerns from citizens across the country.
Second, we really upped the ante on procurement reform. So much so that our very own Procurement Service-DBM (PS-DBM) is now the global standard worldwide in procurement reform. The proof is that PS-DBM was recognized as the winner of the Open Gov Challenge specifically in the anti-corruption category at the OGP Global Summit held in Spain last October for improving data availability, interoperability, and public participation in procurement—all of which are key features of the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA), the biggest anti-corruption measure in our country’s history.
To further accelerate our reforms in public procurement, which plays an integral part in government spending, our very own Government Procurement Policy Board – Technical Support Office (GPPB-TSO) rolled out the NGPA Caravan to capacitate procurement professionals and promote the effective implementation of our new procurement law.
Third, we have continued to empower budget officers nationwide through our Public Financial Management Competency Program (PFMCP), bringing the program to National Government Agencies as well as LGUs and even BARMM.
Our Advocacy and Capacity Development or ACES Group has also sealed a partnership with the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration, or UP-NCPAG, for those of you who would like to enroll in this program at UP.
Fourth, we have thrived with our digitalization efforts which will certainly help us in our transparency efforts as well as monitoring and evaluation.
We began rolling out the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS), which is the interoperable core of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), to support real-time online accounting, monitoring, and oversight of obligations and disbursements.
In line with this, we are also empowering our citizens to uphold accountability through the Project DIME, or the Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation, whose flood control project component was launched last year. With its transparency and public participation features, even ordinary citizens can now monitor major infrastructure projects, helping ensure the effective use of public funds, with the help, of course, of technology—through the drones, satellites, and geotagging.
Taking our digital transformation journey a step further, we also launched the Blockchain Application for the Action Document Releasing System (ADRS)—the first application of blockchain technology in the government budgeting process not just in the country but in Southeast Asia. Through this initiative, key budget documents are securely stored and made publicly accessible, enhancing transparency and accountability in the budget process.
Harmonization of Efforts
Finally, through the efforts of our Budget Policy and Strategy Group, in March 2025, we signed a Joint Memorandum Circular with the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) to further institutionalize the Program Convergence Budgeting (PCB), thereby strengthening the harmonization of critical program interventions and eliminating redundant programs across various agencies.
Having established these reforms in 2025, we are ready to implement the National Budget this 2026. But as the cycle goes, even as we implement the 2026 budget, we also start the budget preparations for next year.
So, for the FY 2027 National Budget, it is imperative that we chart a disciplined course that will rebuild our people’s trust in the government.
NG Subsidy Graduation
For GOCCs, our goal is to optimize budgetary support for your institutions.
By gradually decreasing reliance on the National Budget, we can help GOCCs gain financial independence. Gaining financial independence is equivalent to developing the discipline to enhance operational efficiency and flexibility, thereby maximizing your potential as drivers of economic development. Becoming self-sufficient entities also gives you more accountability in improving service delivery, a key component in rebuilding public trust.
To achieve this, we urge you to continue implementing measures to improve corporate revenue generation, cost recovery, and operational efficiency.
In the meantime, as you build your financial independence, we kindly remind you to exercise fiscal responsibility in your budget proposals.
Key Guidelines
Toward this end, allow me to share some key guidelines in preparing your budget proposals.
Consistent with previous years’ budget preparations, requests for budgetary support should remain aligned with the priorities and policy directions of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 and the programs supporting the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF) 2022-2030—both of which have their Midterm Update versions available online.
In recognition of GOCCs' operational flexibility, we also aim to strengthen our whole-of-program planning and budgeting at the program level. As such, we expect that you will regularly update your GOCC’s Multi-Year Implementation Plan and Budget for Ongoing/Existing Programs and Projects (MIPBOP), which also demonstrates your commitment to ensuring fiscal discipline.
We likewise remain committed to sustaining infrastructure development programs. However, given our limited fiscal space and because of our new heightened precautions against corruption especially with respect to infrastructure projects, only proposals that demonstrate clear evidence of implementation-readiness and strong absorptive capacity will be included in our proposed FY 2027 National Budget.
To continue harnessing the multiplier effects of infrastructure investments, proposed projects must have accurate and complete information. This will also help facilitate swift congressional review during deliberations and enable the timely approval and signing of the budget.
Meanwhile, in the same spirit of efficient and complementary governance, it will be recalled that Administrative Order No. 59, s. 1988 affirms the role of GOCCs in filling market gaps and supporting private sector participation, guiding your institutions to focus on areas where you will not directly or indirectly overlap with private sector activities. As such, we are calling for your cooperation in starting your budget preparation processes with a holistic assessment of priorities, targets, and achievements to ensure that there is no duplication of goods and services among GOCCs, other government agencies, and, of course, the private sector.
Closing
With these, I now leave you in the hands of our budget experts from the DBM and our resource speakers who are experts in their respective fields—our colleagues from the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG), the GPPB-TSO, and the PS-DBM. May this forum help you better prepare a budget that will chart the path towards your financial independence.
Before I turn the floor over to them, allow me to emphasize that, as both government institutions and corporations, you play a critical role in defining the future not just for regular citizens but also for organizations operating in the private sector.
Hence, I encourage everyone to actively participate in our discussions today, ask questions, and offer suggestions to help us refine our strategies.
Together, let us move forward with clarity, alignment, and a renewed commitment to craft a National Budget that truly serves the interests of the Filipino people in our Bagong Pilipinas.
With that, let’s get the ball rolling! Maraming salamat po.
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