Santiago City – Executive Order 325 mandates the Regional Development Councils (RDCs) to coordinate, review and endorse regional development plans, investment programs and annual budget proposals of Agency Regional Offices (AROs) and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). This RDC mandate ensures that the multi-year priority development plan and investment program of the regions are funded through their inclusion in the National Government Budget.

As a practice, the Agency Central Offices (ACOs) determine their budget through the application of internal budget ceilings.

In the study conducted by Region XI, it showed that ACOs retain the 53% of the total agency budget while the remaining 47% is divided among its 17 regions. As the budget process is conducted, it may be noted that the influence of the RDC on the budget proposals of AROs ceases or is weakly felt when the latter conduct its internal budget review with their respective ACOs.

With the institutionalization of the proposed Regional Development Budgeting Process Framework (RDBPF), the process is foreseen to bridge this observed gap in budget allocation.

The RDBPF is an alternative fiscal reform, intended to achieve a more responsive budgeting mechanism for the needs of the regions. It shall serve as a continuing fiscal reform of the government in the budget process.