Dr. Rosario G. Manasan, senior research fellow at state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), presented the results of an assessment done by PIDS of the bottom-up budgeting (BUB) process, at the opening of the Senate Centennial Lecture Series on November 5, 2015.
Started in March 2012, the BUB aims to promote the participation of grassroots organizations in the planning and budgeting processes and to enhance the identification of poverty reduction projects. The assessment done by PIDS focused mainly on the BUB process such as how the key steps in the planning and prioritization of projects under the BUB for the FY 2016 and previous cycles were implemented on the ground. Specifically, it looks at the extent of civil society organizations (CSO) participation in the BUB, the quality of their participation, and the engagement between local government units and CSOs. The PIDS report identified several bottlenecks affecting the participation of CSOs in the BUB, such as lack of inclusiveness in issuing invitations, overrepresentation of some CSOs, political interference of the local chief executive in the prioritization of projects, and lack of social preparation of the CSOs.
The Senate Centennial Lecture Series is part of the observance of the "Centennial Year of the Philippine Senate", which is running from October 2015 to October 2016.
The PIDS and SEPO are long-time partners in the dissemination of policy research information among officials and technical staff of Senate. They have been conducting the Senate Economic Forum Series since 2001.
