To my dearest DBM colleagues and fellow public servants, magandang umaga!
Before I start, allow me to recognize some wins that are worth celebrating today. First, congratulations to the Legal Service (LS) for organizing its 5th LS Forum! The conduct of this event is a testament to our commitment to ensuring that our National Budget truly translates into real improvements in the lives of every Filipino. So, congratulations to our very own LS Group, led by none other than Undersecretary Janet Abuel, for once again organizing a timely and meaningful LS Forum!
And, as you already know, Usec. Janet is also joined by LS Group’s newest Assistant Secretary—Acting Assistant Secretary Andrea Celene M. Magtalas! Congratulations again, Asec. Angel for the very well-deserved promotion!
No one is more equipped to lead the success of the 5th LS Forum on the Special Provisions and the General Provisions of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 National Budget than Usec. Janet and Asec. Angel. With their leadership, we can be confident that this Forum is in the most capable hands.
Today, the LS Group will guide us and ensure that we, at the DBM, uniformly interpret the Special Provisions and the General Provisions of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and the President’s veto message.
We are all well aware of how the FY 2026 Budget Legislation underwent extensive public scrutiny, and we should expect the Filipino people to be just as vigilant in monitoring its implementation.
At bilang mga kawani ng DBM, it is our responsibility to ensure that we do this right. This activity is crucial to ensuring the timely, responsive, and efficient use of authorized funds in accordance with existing laws, rules, and regulations, as well as the budget policy thrusts and priorities for FY 2026.
To ensure alignment with this Administration’s directive, the LS Group will also conduct a thorough discussion of the President’s veto message for the FY 2026 National Budget.
In his veto message, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. himself assured the Filipino people that the FY 2026 National Budget is a clean, disciplined, and responsive budget that is “worthy of the trust of the Filipino people and of the aspirations of the next generations.” As such, we should take it upon ourselves to ensure that this budget is carried out with the utmost integrity and accountability from day one through the end of the fiscal year.
Beyond this forum, we are also committed to advancing our budget reforms to ensure that the Budget “corrects inefficiencies, strengthens institutions, and ensures that government spending serves the people, fully and faithfully,” as PBBM likewise emphasized in his veto message.
At the DBM, we are all about continuously improving our work. Recognizing that there is room for improvement, we conducted the first-ever multi-framework, multi-stakeholder Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Assessments in 2024 in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Under the leadership of our former Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman, we launched five PEFA reports last year, which now serve as our guide as we enhance our PFM system into one that is truly responsive to the needs and aspirations of Filipinos, including the vulnerable sectors of our society.
Now, to sustain our momentum, we also organized the Regional Consultation Workshop Series for the Midterm Review and Updating of the PFM Reforms Roadmap 2024-2028. This Roadmap is our blueprint for advancing the government’s digital financial systems, which includes the launch of the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS) to provide up-to-date information on financial transactions and facilitate faster government processes.
Taking our digital transformation journey a step further, we 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.
As a testament to our commitment to leveraging technology for enhanced efficiency, we also continue to strengthen our implementation of the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA) with the rollout of the NGPA Caravan, spearheaded by our colleagues from the Government Procurement Policy Board – Technical Support Office (GPPB-TSO), which is chaired by the DBM. The NGPA Caravan is a flagship national training initiative designed to equip all relevant stakeholders with the knowledge and skills necessary to implement the new procurement law. With this, we can ensure that this landmark procurement reform—hailed as the country's biggest anti-corruption measure—is implemented and applied consistently across all agencies.
Consistent with our efforts to capacitate public servants to better serve our country, we also launched Phase II of the PFM Competency Program (PFMCP) in November 2025. The second phase of our program offers more advanced courses to further sharpen the competencies of our local budget officers, allowing a more disciplined implementation and safeguarding of our nation’s resources. This ensures that the good governance reforms and improvements in our systems are also reflected in the work of our people.
Again, our goal is to ensure that we are one in effectively implementing this budget to maximize its impact in uplifting the lives of our kababayans through real, measurable improvements.
This is also why we already conducted the FY 2027 Budget Preparation Forum last week for our colleagues not only in the DBM but also in other national government agencies (NGAs) and government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs). While our focus today is to ensure alignment within the DBM, our broader and ultimate objective remains to promote consistency and coherence across the entire bureaucracy.
So, today, as agents of open, accountable, and participatory government, let us demonstrate what meaningful participation truly looks like. I encourage everyone to actively engage in the open forum and breakout sessions and foster an environment of collaboration and cooperation.
Make the most out of this opportunity to have direct access to our legal advisers for a legally sound implementation of our budget. May this forum strengthen our resolve to deliver a budget that truly nurtures future-ready generations to achieve the full potential of the Bagong Pilipinas we are all aspiring for.
Kaya naman ‘wag na natin itong patagalin, marami ang umaasa sa atin, kaya let’s get the ball rolling!
Maraming salamat po!
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