By Ben O. de Vera, March 20, 2020; Philippine Daily Inquirer
Manila, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has given agencies more time to submit their 2021 budget proposals while enjoining them to do so online amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Budget Secretary Wendel E. Avisado on March 17 said via National Budget Memorandum (NBM) No. 134 that the Online Submission of Budget Proposals System (OSBPS) will be accessible and operational during the one-month enhanced community quarantine of Luzon, which will end on April 13.
“Since it is a web-based system, agencies shall continue to have access to the system (osbp.dbm.gov.ph) for the encoding of the required budget preparation forms,” Avisado said.
The DBM also gave agencies 15 more days to submit budget preparation forms.
Under the fiscal year 2021 national budget call contained in NBM 133 issued by Avisado last November, the original deadline to submit both tier one and two 2021 budget proposals was May 11—now moved to May 25.
The deadline to submit reports of actual obligations during fiscal year 2019 was also extended to April 15 from March 31 previously.
Last December, the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) approved to pitch to Congress a record P4.64-trillion cash national budget for 2021.
Avisado had noted that the 2021 budget proposal will be 13.3-percent bigger than the P4.1-trillion 2020 budget, and equivalent to one-fifth of gross domestic product (GDP).
The 2021 budget will adopt cash-based budgeting, under which allotments must be obligated and spent within one year, unlike the obligation-based system where funds expire after two years.
Last September, President Duterte issued Executive Order (EO) No. 91 adopting the cash budgeting system beginning fiscal year 2019.