To Nueva Ecija Provincial Governor Aurelio Umali, Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology (NEUST) President Dr. Feliciana Jacoba, and the NEUST community—maraming salamat po sa mainit na pagtanggap sa Department of Budget and Management;

To the Association of Local Budget Officers in Region III (ALBO III), Inc. headed by President Henry P. Tomas;

To my DBM colleagues, most especially to DBM-Regional Office III led by RD Rosalie Abesamis whose support has been invaluable to the success of this activity;

To our local budget officers and Public Financial Management (PFM) practitioners; and all our participants, magandang araw po.

Assalamu alaikum wa Raḥmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

Congratulations on being the first batch of the 2023 Public Financial Management Competency Program (PFMCP) for Local Government Units (LGUs).

This is also the first face-to-face PFMCP for LGUs this year! At nakakatuwa naman po na marami tayong participants para sa buena manong event na ito. Buena mano po ito so dapat maswerte po tayong lahat!

I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to participate in this event despite your busy schedules. I admire and commend your effort to improve yourselves through this program, your dedication to providing better quality public service, and your commitment to serving the people.

I have conversed with different PFM practitioners across the country, so I am aware of the many challenging situations and circumstances that you face at the local level.

Mula sa pakikipag-uusap natin sa iba’t ibang mga LGU ay nalaman natin na isa po sa inyong mga hiling ay magkaroon ng targeted at LGU-focused na PFM Competency Program. Kaya po nagsumikap kami na maisagawa ito, kasama po ng PHILLBO.

We specifically designed this training program for LGUs to deepen your knowledge on PFM with the end in mind of promoting good governance, financial accountability, and effective resource management in your respective localities.

That is why in the past two days, you were given updates and information under the Foundation and Budgeting Tracks; and today, you will learn about Government Procurement from our credible resource person, Atty. Maria Dionesia A. Rivera- Guillermo.

Importante po ang procurement. As we all know, procurement is one of the most crucial aspects of governance. In fact, we call it the heart of public service because it is through procurement activities that we are able to source materials to provide our fellow Filipinos with infrastructure, healthcare services, education materials, and more.

Hence, we are working very hard to improve our procurement systems to become future-ready, efficient, and, most of all, to ensure integrity in procurement processes. I am happy to share with you that just last week—September 20—we presented to the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) Meeting led by no less than our President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. our proposed amendments to the 20-year-old Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA). In fact, it was one of the priority bills included in the Common Legislative Agenda (CLA) of the 19th Congress to further advance the attainment of our social and economic transformation agenda.

These amendments include various strategies in procurement planning including market scoping, early procurement activities, and the use of framework agreements. We will likewise leverage digitalization and innovation to make public procurement more efficient and transparent through the modernized Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (mPhilGEPS).

If all goes well, we will soon also have an electronic reverse auction and an electronic or e-marketplace which we will expand to not just common-use supplies but also non-common-use supplies. Ito po ay similar sa Shopee at Lazada so mas madali na po tayong mag-oorder ng supplies for our use in our offices.

We will also make our procurement systems go green! We will adopt a Green Public Procurement Strategy in the procurement of goods, infrastructure projects, and consulting services to ensure reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle. In addition, we aim to integrate green practices and environmentally relevant criteria in the procurement design of a project, and effectively establish a local market for green products.

Most of all, because DBM is the head of the Open Government Steering Committee in the Philippines, we will make procurement transparent by mainstreaming public participation in our procurement process. We will be inviting at least two observers—from the private sector and the civil society—to sit in procurement proceedings. And, we will be the first country in the world to ensure equal access to information at ALL stages of our procurement process.

Marami pa pong ibang reporma sa procurement but I will let our abled resource speaker to go into details later.

Now on the budget, I am proud to share that the House of Representatives approved the Fiscal Year 2024 General Appropriations Bill on the third and final reading last Wednesday, September 27—wherein a total of Php 1.008 trillion or 17.5 percent will be allocated to the Local Government Units. And, this feat would not be possible without your support, our dear budget officers, as you play a crucial role in bridging the needs of our fellow Filipinos to the national government, making our PFM system responsive and people-centered.

Hence, we remain committed to continuing and even upscaling our efforts to provide you with more capacity-building and assistance in the future, as we update our PFM policies and guidelines to cope with the changing times and the evolving needs of our people.

I hope that through our capacity building, you will be inspired not only to work harder but also to help us implement the necessary reforms that will improve our government systems and processes.

I also hope that this PFM Competency Program will help you create and execute the necessary Programs, Activities, and Projects that will make your respective LGUs thrive because ultimately, that is the wisdom of the Mandanas-Garcia Supreme Court Ruling: to empower our LGUs to serve the people in your localities faster and better.

Sama sama po nating paigtingin at pagitingin ang ating mga LGU sa pamamagitan ng wasto at tapat na pagsasagawa at paggamit ng ating mga budget tungo sa Bagong Pilipinas. Together, let us secure a future-proof and sustainable economy and achieve our Agenda for Prosperity.

Mabuhay po ang Region III! Mabuhay po ang Nueva Ecija! Mabuhay ang Pilipino at ang Bagong Pilipinas.

Maraming salamat po.

Wabillahi Tawfiq Wal Hidaya, Wasalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.