There was a time when Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB) sounded like a mantra in government programs.
Especially after the 1986 People Power Revolution, when “empowerment” became a byword among civil society groups, BUB, which involved communities and people’s organizations, sounded like the logical way of identifying felt needs in the localities and prioritizing them for government funding.
Crucial in the process are the Local Development Councils (LDCs) of cities and municipalities. These LDCs are composed of local government officials such as the mayor, the councilors and representatives from government agencies, the private sector and nongovernment organizations.
The LDCs plan the development policies of local government units. Essentially, the programs and projects proposed by the LDCs play a vital role in the budget process of the government. As the primary basis of the needed financial allocation, the LDC is where things are first proposed before going up to the higher echelons of the budget process, hence the BUB.
The next level along the line is the Regional Development Council (RDC), which centralizes all the proposals made by the LDCs and endorses them to the National Government.
Where am I going with this?
Well, just recently, Sen. Chiz Escudero urged Congress to require endorsements of projects by the RDCs before these can be included in the national budget to prevent corruption. Through his Senate Bill 1459, or the proposed Grassroots Infrastructure Planning and Budgeting Act, Escudero wants LDCs to have a direct role in identifying local projects that need priority funding.
Now, I don’t want to make ad hominem comments on Escudero, who has been under heavy criticism after his “forthwith” decision on the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte as well as his acceptance of campaign donations from a contractor of government infrastructure projects. But I do find merit in his bill.
Never mind if he does sound like somebody who’s only saying something worthwhile now after having been in the Senate for so long, but I do get where he’s coming from.
First of all, it’s not that easy to identify, propose and defend a budget proposal in the LDC and the RDC. As a former government official in the National Government, I have been through such exercises and they weren’t exactly a walk in the park.
After the LDC and RDC levels, I have also attended several Congressional hearings to answer questions regarding the annual budget proposals of my office. Again, these hearings, which often lasted deep into the night were not quite pleasant.
So, imagine my dismay upon learning that some legislators simply made insertions in the General Appropriations Act at the bicameral committee level without any semblance of scrutiny. That they secured funding for projects without going through the LDC and the RDC or Congressional hearings that many of us in government agencies did baffles me no end.
Whatever happened to BUB when these insertions were made?
Let’s call a spade a spade. It’s about time that we uphold the essence of the BUB as an agent of growth and development starting from the grassroots. Escudero may not exactly sound like a saint at this point of time, but his proposed bill necessitating RDC endorsement for projects that need funding in Congress follows a path that is aligned with a higher purpose.