The Regional Development Council seeks to review the new and expansion programs, projects, and activities under Tier 2 to be funded by the national government, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the Cordillera region.
The 2023 budget review and consultations for regional line agencies (RLAs) and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) kicked off on February 3, 2022
Regional Development and Budget Coordination Committee Chairperson and DBM-CAR Regional Director Irene Gahid informed the participants that the RDBCC has already issued Regional Budget Memorandum No. 1, series of 2022, which contains the regional guidelines and procedures in the presentation of the 2023 budget proposals.
DBM-CAR pointed out that the Tier 2 PPAs are reviewed for alignment with the Public Investment Program/Regional Development Investment Program (RDIP), capital outlays for infrastructure projects in the Three-Year Rolling Infrastructure Program (TRIP) 2023-2025, and essential operations and maintenance for technical assistance programs to the local government units (LGUs), as a result of the devolution of functions to LGUs due to the Mandanas-Garcia ruling.
Mr. Israel Baguilat of DBM-CAR added that with the devolution of functions to LGUs, the national government shall focus on capacity development, monitoring and performance assessment of LGUs, and policy and standards development for service delivery. However, a transition period will see NG still assisting 5th to 6th income class LGUs. The full devolution of functions will be in 2024.
Further on the regional opportunities and needs, concerned agencies and SUCs are expected to consult their respective development partners, namely, the LGUs, civil society organizations, student/faculty associations, board of regents, and other stakeholders. These consultations are to be held before the budget deliberations on February 21-24, 2022 which are to be conducted through a hybrid platform.
(Source: NEDA-CAR)