Mt Province BUB projects up for investigation

By Gina Dizon

SAGADA Mountain Province -- Projects implemented under government’s “bottom up budgeting” (BUB)  for 2013  to 2015 are up for monitoring with irregularities to be investigated.

Focal person for Mountain Province Lynn Madalang said they would welcome complaints on BUB projects’ implementation which they would subject to investigation  implemented 2013 to 2015.

The process for BUB’s listed projects initially started in 2013 with P8 million  followed by  P15 million in  P2014 and another  P15 million in  2015 with projects identified in the province implemented by 10 municipal  government  units of the province.

Madalang urged civil society organizations and any interested  citizen to submit their complaints  to focal person of perceived irregularity in any  project for investigation and subjected for  appropriate action to  concerned agencies.  

BUB- listed projects are financed by various agencies depending on project category.

Roads, pathways and waterworks   are financed by the  Department of Interior and Local Government,  school-based  projects by the Department of  Education,  skills trainings by the  Technical  Skills  Development  Authority,   communal  irrigation systems l by the  Department of Agriculture,  tourism related  projects by the  Department of

Tourism and micro enterprise projects by the Department of  Social Welfare and Development.

BUB ensures funding for development needs of localities in the budget proposals of participating national government agencies; and the process of project identification involving representatives from government and CSOs.

The process intends to provide funding for projects to provide basic social services, mitigate hunger, generate jobs, and disaster preparedness.

Projects not allowed under the  BUB listing as contained in the 2015 guidelines are those below 500,000 pesos  as these  can be proposed as LGU  implemented projects,  expansion of PantawidPamilya Program, housing Projects, materials recovery facility and landfills, vaccination and  health insurance programs, construction of new school buildings and classrooms nd clinics, farm-to-market roads, construction of municipal halls and  training centers, and purchase of motor vehicles.

Earlier guidelines did not identify farm to markets roads as  projects which were not allowed.

The 2015 guidelines identified  FMR as not allowed  projects as these are too costly for the limited  funds under BUB listing.