P30-B undisbursed EV funds
Finance

P30-B EV funds unused

Jul 4, 2022, 4:04 AM
Joyce Kahano-Alpino

Joyce Kahano-Alpino

Writer

A hefty P30-billion budget of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for Eastern Visayas government agencies remains undisbursed as of the first quarter of 2022 which represents 81 percent of the total obligated funds since last year, 2021.

Of this, P29.85 billion for the first quarter of 2022 remained unspent by the end of March in addition to the existing P350 million unspent outlay of various national government agencies in the region.

“The ideal is that all obligated funds for the quarter should be 100 percent disbursed by the end of the quarter. Agencies should not wait for the near expiration of the validity of the budget to fast-track the implementation,” DBM assistant regional director Aleli Hernandez said during the meeting at the new Leyte Provincial Capitol.

Out of the billions of unspent funding since last year, P27.75 billion are for the infrastructure and utilities sector, P1.32 billion for the social development sector, P1.08 billion for the economic development sector, and P45 million for the development administration sector.

From 2016 to 2022, only 45 percent of the Regional Development Council (RDC) -endorsed budget proposals for selected infrastructure projects have been included in the General Appropriations Act.

'Loss of opportunities'

“It’s hard to get funding from the national government. Not all our endorsed budgets are being approved at the national level, but here we are not spending what we already have,” National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) regional director Meylene Rosales said.
“I don’t understand why there are undisbursed funds since implementers complied with documentary requirements before fund releases. Underspending means loss of opportunities for economic development in the region,” Rosales added.

The funding which could have been spent to better the living and working conditions of the public in a time where inflation of necessities is just around the corner will now be reverted to the National Treasury.

Why the underspending

Among the common reasons raised by government agencies for the unspent budget included the late billing of suppliers and contractors, request for extension of a delivery date, changes in the scope of works, and late issuance of notice of awards.

Other reasons are the revision of the program of works, road right of way acquisition issues, failure of bidding, and lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This situation prompted the RDC to enhance its monitoring of budget spending, operationalize the regional inter-agency task force on planning and budgeting, and regular reporting on the review and assessment of agencies’ budget utilization through a regional planning forum on the 2024 budget process to curb the underspending and non-approval of some proposed funds among government agencies.

“There remains the need to further build up planning capacities and improve and firm up agency and state universities and colleges (SUCs) operational plans, especially in the light of the results of the RDC budget exercise, where assessment showed that only a small fraction of the proposed projects for 2023 are found to be fully compliant with the implementation-ready requirement,” DBM Regional Director Imelda Laceras said.

Laceras blames the persistent organizational weakness within national government agencies and the SUCs for hampering their ability to execute programs and projects well and fast.

“This is a result of poor planning in project design, weak capacity and delays in finalizing specifications, weak operational planning, and bottlenecks in implementation. These bottlenecks include difficulty in securing clearances or permits, coordination problems, right of way and other legal issues.”

This was said after it was found that 12.41 percent of the proposed 4,464 projects for next year in Eastern Visayas are considered ready for implementation.

If the said underspending will persist, Eastern Visayas’s socio-economic development would continue to be delayed for more years to come.


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