The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has proposed for a P12.47 billion allotment next year for the transformation and digitalization of government processes and transactions.
During the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) briefing at the Senate yesterday, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the allotted fund under the 2023 national budget emphasizes the importance of information and communications technology (ICT) in the new normal.
Asked about how much of the 2023 fund will boost the capacity of government agencies, particularly in collecting fees and taxes in digital channels, the budget chief said: “For 2023, we have a total budget for ICT and digitalization, P12.47 billion. This is across the national government agencies. And for the 2023 budget, we included a section on digital payments of government financial transactions. This is related to the Executive Order No. 170 signed by then President Duterte — The Adoption of Digital Payments for Government Disbursements and Collections.”
The implementation of digitalizing government frontline agencies is well underway, she added.
“The IRR (Implementing Rules and Regulations) has been crafted and it’s been prepared by the agencies and now, it’s undergoing consultation. So hopefully, in a few weeks, we’ll have the IRR. And we’ll push for the digitalization,” Pangandaman said.
Of the P12.47 billion, the Department of Information and Communications Technology will receive the largest allocation amounting to P4.24 billion for its ICT systems and infostructure development. The Department of Finance comes second with P3.56 billion, which is seen to help improve revenue collection.
Meanwhile, Pangandaman also emphasized the role of local government units (LGU) in achieving inclusive and sustainable economic prosperity for the country during the DBCC Senate briefing on the 2023 proposed national budget.
“With a total allocation of P962.2 billion for LGUs, we aim to strengthen our efforts in capacitating and empowering them to autonomously deliver essential services to their constituents,” the budget chief said.
The amount represents 18.3 percent of the P5.268 trillion proposed national budget next year.
Of this amount, P820.27 billion is for the National Tax Allotment, adhering to the Mandanas-Garcia Supreme Court ruling. It also includes P28.88 billion worth of Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) which is around P10.91 billion higher than the P17.97 billion appropriated this year.
The LGSF is composed of P13.88 billion for the provision of the Growth Equity Fund as financial assistance to the identified poor, disadvantaged and lagging LGUs; P5 billion for the financial assistance to be given to all level LGUs, except for those under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao; and P10 billion for the Support to Barangay Development Program.
The assistance to LGUs is aimed at implementing agriculture-related programs and projects, ICT systems and infrastructure development, construction, maintenance, and/or rehabilitation of public spaces and programs for disaster response, rehabilitation and recovery.
“Despite the limited fiscal space, we tried to increase some of the budget allocations for LGUs,” Pangandaman said.
