BUB Project Assures P15M Per Aklan Town

by ODON S. BANDIOLA

Who cares whether the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of Senators and Congressmen are scrapped or not?

Under the novel and brand new planning and budgeting strategy called the bottoms-up budgeting of the national government, local government units at the municipal level can now assess their needs and potentials. They can come up with projects suited to their needs and be assured of national government appropriations without seeking the blessings of their congressman in Congress.

Bottom’s-up budgeting (BUB) is planning and budgeting thru the active and genuine involvement of grassroots organizations and communities.

This year, 11 towns in Aklan are included among the 41 LGUs (8 cities and 33 municipalities) as identified Focus-LGUs by the National Anti-Poverty Commission. They are assured of appropriations from participating national government agencies for their respective projects.

These are Altavas with P8 million worth of projects; Balete with P10.17 million; Banga with P9.1 million; Batan - P9.5 million; Buruanga - P8 million; Ibajay – P12.4 million; Libacao – P12.7 million; Madalag – P8.7 million; Malinao – P8.6 million; Nabas – P12.578 million; and New Washington – P10.7 million.

The criteria used in the selection of LGUs are the magnitude and incidence of poverty, high economic potentials and vulnerability to geo-hazards such as floods and landslides.

BUB eligible projects for submission to the participating national government agencies must contribute to the following: 1) Provision for basic social services and attainment of the Millenium Development Goals, including poverty reduction; 2) Hunger mitigation and elimination; 3) Job generation and inclusive local development; and 4) Climate change adaptation/mitigation and preparedness.

The government agencies involved in the BUB are DA, DAR, DENR, DOE, DepEd, DOH, DSWD, PhilHealth, NEA, DOE, DILG, and DOLE. These agencies are mandated to earmark at least 10 percent of their annual budget for BUB projects.

By 2015, each town in Aklan is assured of P15 million for their eligible BUB projects. /MP