Philippines National Budgeting

The national budget is a financial plan of government or the translation of government’s programs in monetary terms. The annual budget contains the expenditures program which enumerates the different expenditure items and the respective amounts intended to be spent for each. These expenditures are supposed to achieve public purposes and be consistent with development objectives. The expenditure program, however, is just one dimension of the budget. Public expenditures are prepared and implemented with due consideration to the financial resources available to government to fund its expenditures. Thus, revenue and financing (borrowing) programs are drawn-up, along with the expenditure program, and form part of the budget.
 
State policies highlight the role of the national budget as an instrument of national development. Section 3, Book VI, Executive Order 2921 declares it a policy of the State to formulate and implement a national budget that is, among others:
 
• An instrument of national development, reflective of national objectives, strategies and plans;
• Supportive of and consistent with the socio-economic development plan; and
• Oriented towards the achievement of explicit objectives and expected results.
 
The Philippine budget process
 
The budget process consists of four phases, namely budget preparation (or formulation), budget legislation (or authorization), budget execution (or implementation) and budget accountability. These phases form a budget cycle which traces the evolution of the budget and leads to an evaluation of budget implementation. The last phase should serve as inputs for budget authorities, fiscal managers and Congress in their decisions regarding the budget for the succeeding year.
 
Figure 1. Budget Process
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The Constitution provides that national budgets be prepared annually covering a calendar year. This implies that at any given period of the year, different budget phases for different annual budgets overlap....