The Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Office No. XIII and various national line agencies presented their respective FY 2017 Budget Proposals at the Regional Development Council – Economic Development Committee (RDC-EDC) Budget Consultation with the Civil Society Organization on February 24, 2016 at Balanghai Hotel and Convention Center in Butuan City.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Director, Ms. Mylah Faye Aurora B. Cariño, emphasized the importance of the said consultation in her Welcome Remarks. Dir. Cariño stressed that it is one of the requirements prior to the endorsement of the proposed budget to national level. The presence of the Civil Society Organization shows its significant role in the budget formulation of each agency. She also gave a presentation on the Regional Budget Guidelines for FY 2017.
Engr. Emmanuel Z. Gidacan, Chief EDS of NEDA, presented the mechanics of the workshop. After the presentation, the participants were divided according to the following sectors with their respective assigned facilitators, to wit;
- Development Administration Ms. Michelle P. Dela Calzada
- Economic Sector Engr. Emmanuel Z. Gidacan
- Infrastructure Sector Ms. Gemima A. Olam
- Social Sector Ms. Jazmin D. Berido
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Office No. XIII is a member of the Economic Sector. Mr. Carl Orven C. Eludo, Planning Officer Designate, presented the MGB ROXIII FY 2017 budget proposal to the members of the Economic Sector and to the invited Civil Society Organization representatives for their comments and suggestions.
MGB Regional Director Alilo C. Ensomo, Jr. explained that MGB’s budget application of the Bottoms-Up-Budgeting (BUB) is through its Social Development and Management Program (SDMP) wherein the identification of its programs and projects start from the community level. SDMP has also applied the concept of Public Private Partnership as its formulations involve the Mines and Geosciences Bureau as the government representative, the mining companies as the private sector and the community as the beneficiary.
Prior to the budget consultation, each national line agency was required to invite one Civil Society Organization with direct or indirect involvement in the office operation to participate in the budget presentation in order to gain information on how the office budget was formulated. As the sole CSO having close coordination with the MGB ROXIII operation through the Mine Rehabilitation Fund Committee (MRFC) and Multi-Partite Monitoring Team (MMT) activities as the monitoring arm of MRFC, Reach Foundation was invited by MGB ROXIII to take part in the budget consultation.
The activity ended with the hope that the proposed budgets of all national line agencies will be endorsed and eventually approved by Congress for the realization and implementation of their respective programs, activities and projects for FY 2017.
