From the Department of the Interior and Local Government
P18.2B to be released directly to LGUs for BUB, KALSADA projects in 2016
All provinces are to receive P18.2-billion in 2016 for implementation of anti-poverty initiatives and rehabilitation of provincial roads.
All provinces, cities and municipalities will receive a total of 18.2 billion next year for the implementation of their anti-poverty initiatives under the Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB) project and for the rehabilitation and upgrading of provincial roads.
Of the P18.2 billion, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas said that P11.7 billion is allocated for community-based poverty reduction projects, while P6.5 billion will be earmarked for the implementation of the Konkreto at Ayos na Lansangan at Daan Tungo sa Pangkalahatang Kaunlaran of KALSADA project.
He said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has assured the DILG that the funds will be directly downloaded to local government units (LGUs), provided that they meet good governance conditions, social development benchmarks and established monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.
Earlier, the DILG Secretary wrote a letter to Budget Secretary Butch Abad on the possibility of directly releasing funds to LGUs for national programs and services that directly impact on localities and may be effectively implemented at the local level, instead of through the national government.
“This system would be subject to certain requirements and conditions, of course, and would greatly depend on the capacity of LGUs to take responsibilities that flow from this prerogative,” he said in his letter.
President Aquino, in his Budget message, also said that the performance-based downloading of funds to LGUs promote good governance as LGUs, regardless of political affiliation, that have the right capacity, meet good local governance standards, and embrace citizens’ participation are tapped to implement these projects.
The DILG Chief said that of the P11.7 billion allotted for BUB, P704 million will go to projects on community based monitoring system and community food production, P1.011 billion for basic education, P1.065 billion for health, P2.071 billion for disaster risk reduction management, P5.553 billion for local roads, P712.6 million for water supply, P542.384 million for irrigation, and P40.003-million for other local projects.
On the other hand, the P6.5 billion KALSADA fund shall be directly released to provinces, subject to their compliance of certain requirements, to increase their ability to bring their road networks to sustainably maintainable condition through renovation or rehabilitation of strategic road networks linking national roads to areas of development such as agriculture, tourism, health and education.
