To the Local Government of General Santos City, maraming salamat po sa muling pagtanggap sa Department of Budget and Management (DBM) para sa ikalawang yugto ng ating Public Financial Management Competency Program for Local Government Units (PFMCP for LGUs);
To the Regional Association of Local Budget Officers (RALBO) XII, headed by President Ma. Cristina Barol;
To my DBM colleagues, most especially to the DBM Regional Office XII, led by our ever-dependable Regional Director Akmad J. Usman and Assistant Regional Director Libertine G. Cagang, whose support has been invaluable to the success of this activity;
To our local budget officers and Public Financial Management (PFM) practitioners, and all our participants: Magandang umaga sa inyong lahat!
Napakasaya pong makasama kayo, bilang “buena manong” batch ng PFMCP for LGUs para sa 2026 dito sa Gen San! Talagang ang Gen San, laging nangunguna—sa reporma at mga activities. Ang ilan sa inyo ay nakagraduate na sa Phase I, at ngayon naman, sama-sama nating kukumpletuhin ang mga kurso na aming inihanda para sa Phase II.
Your continued participation in this program, despite your busy schedules, is a testament to your dedication to advancing our nation’s development through sound budgeting and management. So again, thank you very much for joining us in this journey, palakpakan po ninyo ang inyong mga sarili dahil nandito po kayo! Kanina, binanggit sa akin na 300 lang supposedly ang participants, pero you are around 700 na ngayon. Maraming salamat po sa pagpunta at pagdalo.
Last November 2025, we celebrated the 10th year of the PFMCP. And as I reflected on the program's transformation—from catering only to National Government Agencies to expanding to LGUs and even BARMM—I can say that the PFMCP has continued to evolve to meet the needs of Filipinos while remaining firmly committed to its core goals. That is, to uphold good governance, improve public service delivery and ensure genuine prosperity for all.
In fact, the PFMCP for LGUs alone has already capacitated more than ten thousand PFM practitioners since its launch in 2023. With dedicated public servants like you who put your learnings into practice, this achievement translates into better services and better outcomes for millions of Filipinos we have sworn to serve.
And we are confident that we can further carry this mission forward through our Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 National Budget, signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. last January 5. This amounts to Php 6.793 trillion, higher by 7.4 percent compared to last year’s budget.
Of this amount, Php 1.19 trillion is allocated to the National Tax Allotment share of LGUs. This is on top of the Php 31.72 billion special shares of LGUs in the proceeds of national taxes and Php 1.4 billion from fire code fees.
Additionally, Php 57.87 billion is provided for the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF)—more than double the 2025 allocation—underscoring our commitment to empowering our local governments.
Ang pondong ito ang ating puhunan upang mas mailapit ang mga serbisyo ng gobyerno sa publiko. Ito rin ang layunin ng Mandanas–Garcia Supreme Court Ruling—ang bigyan ng mas malaking kakayahan ang mga lokal na pamahalaan upang mas epektibong makapaglingkod sa taumbayan.
Indeed, the enacted budget for FY 2026 puts a premium on our people and communities, ensuring that no one will be left behind in our socioeconomic transformation. But, as highlighted by PBBM during the signing of the General Appropriations Act (GAA), the most difficult task goes beyond the passage of the GAA—it is to ensure proper execution and institute true accountability so that this budget may fulfill its promises to our citizens.
So nakasalalay din po sa atin ‘yan, sa ating mga budget officers at finance officers, lalo na po sa ating LGUs.
At dito na po papasok ang napakahalagang tungkulin na ginagampanan ng ating mga PFM practitioners—kayo po ‘yun. Hindi madali ang inyong trabaho, ngunit patuloy niyong ginagawa ito para sa mga mamamayang Pilipino. Kaya naman, pinagsisikapan po ng DBM na mabigyan kayo ng tamang suporta sa pamamagitan ng mga capacity-building programs katulad nito, at pagpapatupad ng mga reporma upang mas mapadali at mapabuti ang ating sistema.
This is why, for the Phase II of PFMCP for LGUs, we expanded the program to include core topics on the PFM system in local governments, covering the local budget process, local funds, the New Government Procurement Act, and Gender and Development Planning and Budgeting.
And to further ensure that our program design is responsive to the distinct realities and priorities of your localities, we also introduced, for the first time, a dedicated session on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda as part of our PFMCP. Because we believe that the budget is not only a financial instrument, but also a means to advance our advocacies, especially in ensuring that governance remains inclusive and supports lasting peace and prosperity.
All these topics will be discussed by our top-caliber experts from the government and the academe to provide you with both technical and practical perspectives, which will ultimately help your respective LGUs thrive.
Aside from our capacity development initiatives, we remain committed to strengthening the country’s PFM systems and enhancing bureaucratic efficiency through institutional reforms anchored in the principles of transparency, accountability, and citizen participation.
In fact, our plans under the PFM Reforms Roadmap 2024-2028 are now being executed through real, functioning systems. We are digitally transforming our PFM ecosystem through the development and implementation of an Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) with the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS) at its core.
In 2025, we rolled out the BTMS in seven pilot agencies, and this year, we aim to cover 155 more, including National Government Agencies (NGAs) across the social, economic, and justice sectors; regulatory and oversight agencies; the legislature; and LGU-focused commissions and coordinating bodies. By 2027, we aim for all NGAs to adopt the BTMS—a digital tool that integrates budgeting, treasury, accounting, and reporting into a single system, enabling real-time monitoring of budget utilization, obligations, and disbursements.
We are also working with our development partners to strengthen our investments towards digitalizing our PFM processes. As the lead agency for the Program Convergence Budgeting (PCB) for PFM Systems, we conducted PCB workshops and developed a framework that now serves as the operational anchor and reference guide for convergence budgeting of PFM systems, ensuring alignment of efforts and efficient budget allocation across the government.
These are just some of our efforts to build a more responsive PFM system, on top of our pioneer course on good governance reforms and initiatives.
As we sustain our reform agenda, we hope that you will continue to join us in implementing our budget efficiently, effectively, and with full accountability.
Sa mga susunod na oras at araw ay sama-sama po tayong matuto upang mas mabantayan at mapangalagaan ang Budget ng Bayan. Gawin natin ito hindi lang para sa kasalukuyang panahon, kundi lalo’t higit para sa mga susunod na henerasyon.
Maraming salamat po.
Mabuhay ang Region XII! Mabuhay ang PHILLBO! Mabuhay ang Gen San! Mabuhay ang Bagong Pilipinas!
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