PASIG CITY – Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones emphasized on Monday that the Department of Education (DepEd) has made significant strides in arresting, albeit not completely, the decline in its budget utilization.
In enumerating the Department’s continuous efforts in reforming its internal procedures to judiciously allocate and spend its annual fund, the Secretary admitted to the Senate Committee on Finance (Subcommittee D) that while improvement is underway, DepEd still has its share of underspending.
“We are now recovering from the decline in utilization in 2015. It will be recalled that in 2015, we reported a decline in the utilization of budget. We have arrested it but not completely. We have to be honest about it,” the Education chief pointed out.
Reduced underspending
In the last five years, DepEd recorded the following budget utilization performance (BUR): 92% in 2012, 94% in 2013, 90% in 2014, and 88% in 2015. In 2016, half of which the current administration is accountable for, saw an increase at 90% as of August 31, 2017. This is 5% higher than the 85% BUR target for the year.
By definition of DepEd’s Office of the Undersecretary for Finance – Budget and Monitoring, “underspending refers to a government agency’s spending less than what was appropriated for its use as provided in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).” It further stated that “for the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), underspending is the sum of ‘unreleased appropriations’ and ‘unobligated allotments’. However, both components do not connote to underspending yet, as most of unreleased appropriations were released in the following year and some of the unobligated allotments were eventually obligated due to the two-year validity of appropriations.”
Financial reforms
Cognizant of the massive challenge in budget utilization, plaguing not just DepEd but other agencies as well, Secretary Briones initiated interventions to improve fund utilization and delivery upon her assumption of office in 2016. To improve DepEd’s absorptive capacity, the following financial reforms are being implemented:
- Entrustment of executive leads to champion Disbursement and Accounting, Budget and Performance Monitoring, Administration, and Procurement to efficiently utilize human and financial resources
- Education Programs Delivery Unit (EPDU) to facilitate faster programs delivery and budget utilization, as well as address bottlenecks, challenges, and constraints
- Creation of five Bids and Awards Committees (BAC) to fast-track procurement of education inputs
- Calibration of budget and accounting skills of Central and field personnel through Financial Management Operations Training
- Faster feedback mechanism with Regional Directors on fund releases and procurement challenges
- Mid-year review of procurement plans to push for continuation of implementation, especially for big ticket programs of 2016-2017
- Streamlined downloading of funds (without waiting for Resolution to Award or RTA)
- Use of Work and Financial Plan (WFP)-based activity request (AR) in place of the long process of authority to conduct (ATC)
- Monitoring of financial reforms mainly for all regions and ongoing programs
- More improvements in terms of budget planning, execution, and reporting shall be put in place considering the national fiscal calendar and Budget Reform Bill in the context of the same year delivery challenge
Interventions to improve BUR
Moving toward a more effective utilization of the proposed 2018 budget, DepEd has placed the following interventions:
- Pre-procurement activities for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, short of award starting by the end of October 2017
- Indicative Annual Procurement Plan (APP) ready by end of October 2017
- Strengthening of procurement planning
- Order Agreement/Framework for training venues and school furniture
- Creation of 6th BAC to handle small value procurement
- Creation of additional Division under the DepEd Central Office-Personnel Service and two to three staff for DepEd Regional Office-Personnel Service
- Early downloading of funds to Implementing Units
- Application of Multi-Year Implementing Guidelines for big ticket items
- Definition and specification of obligation triggers
- Review of the Republic Act 8047 and Volume 5 for textbooks and instructional materials
Legislative support
Secretary Briones also welcomed the support expressed by legislators to help DepEd curb roadblocks in operation and catch up with budget spending through the possible amendment of several laws.
“Gusto naming pag 2018 dere-derecho na. We will not repeat the three-month delay, which we underwent in 2017. Ayaw na naming ulitin yan. . . I have directed our Legal office to look at laws and existing policies which inhibit efficient implementation of planned programs and projects because we have a huge accumulation of laws, policies, procedures which may not necessarily be facilitative anymore. We make laws to speed up implementation, to give services to the people. But sometimes the procedures, or the IRRs, have the impact of delaying delivery,” Secretary Briones expounded during the Senate hearing.
Among the legislations that may need to be revisited are the Government Procurement Reform Act; Book Publishing Industry Development Act; Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines; Magna Carta for Public School Teachers; Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001; Guidance and Counselling Act of 2004; Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education Act; and Granting Priority to Residents of the Barangay, Municipality or City Where the School is Located, in the Appointment or Assignment of Classroom Public School Teachers.