Answering the invitation from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the RESOURCEGov Project represented by its Project Manager, Mr. Jobe C. Tubigon, participated in the Orientation on the Participation of CSOs in the Local Budget Process on October 26-27, 2015 in Manila. The orientation was aimed at increasing the participation of CSOs in the local budget process by understanding and appreciating the emerging roles of CSOs in the various phases of the local budget process and the emerging tools/templates for each phase of the budget process.
Of the total 50 participants, there were only 32 select CSOs from the 8 regions in the Visayas and Mindanao who were invited by the DBM to participate in the activity. Each select CSO represented the province of their region. The rest of the participants were the Regional Directors/Resource Persons from the DBM and the EU Delegation to the Philippines. This activity is part of the 4-year EU-funded project, “Support to Local Government Units for More Effective and Accountable Public Financial Management (LGU PFM 2 Project)” implemented by the DBM in partnership with the Department of Finance (DOF), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Complementing this “LGU PFM 2” initiative, the RESOURCEGov project also shared during the orientation the EU-funded ODK-based budget tracking system which is also aimed at increasing the participation of CSOs in monitoring government budgets and projects. The project presented the ODK-based monitoring system already customizing and integrating the Checklist of the LGU Compliance to the Local Budget Process. As part of the re-entry plan, the RESOURCEGov project has committed to popularize the utilization of the Checklist of the LGU Compliance to the Local Budget Process in project target LGUs using the ODK.