Pisay budget rises due to K-12

The 2016 PSHS-MC budget rose to a total of PHP 237 million in light of the K-12 program implementation.

The budget increase was attributed to the extension of the Science and Humanities Building (SHB), rehabilitation of road networks, and the growth of the student body which now accommodates five year levels.

“This year, malaki ang budget ng PSHS because of K-12. May increase sa [infrastructures], may increase sa inyo, sa number of students which means increase din in supplies, increase din in personnel, more teachers, [and] more staff,” according to PSHS-MC Campus Director Virginia Andres last November 17.

She stated that the money allotted for the SHB extension was PHP 23 million, while PHP 8 million was allotted for the repair of the roads inside the campus.

The breakdown of the money allocation was distributed to personal services, operations, maintenance, and other operating expenses. These included the conducting of the National Competitive Examination (NCE), salaries and benefits of the staff, stipends, utilities, allowance for books, uniform, transportation, and more.

Budget proposals are compiled with other agencies by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) through the National Expenditure Program (NEP). The final approved budget goes through the Senate and the President and is issued through the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Another major factor of the increased budget was the continuing resolution, which is the savings from the previous year’s GAA. This year’s continuation fee added up to PHP 15 million.

“Kunwari ngayon may construction, but the construction will not be finished by December. So, yung pera hindi naubos … continuing ang tawag doon. We will spend it the following year to pay the contractor once they finish the construction,” according to Mrs. Andres.

The apparent increased spending of the school is due to the fact that one of its current priorities in terms of spending is ensuring the utilization of the GAA. Their target is to have the budget closest to zero balance by the end of the school year.

Regarding the savings, Mrs. Andres stated, “If you have too much continuing fund or savings, problema rin yun kasi we get rated based on our absorptive capacity, meaning if they give you this amount, they expect that you will consume everything by the end of the year. If you can’t consume it, then they will have second thoughts giving more budget next year. Kasi, how can you ask for more budget if you can’t consume everything that they give you?”

Budget allotment is made annually following the calendar year. Because this poses a problem for the school’s planning as it is made by school year, they are focusing on money distribution and management.

“[Learn] how to prioritize kunwari kasi hindi mo naman pwede i-dictate na this year, ito lang ang training nating puntahan, eto lang ang competitions nating pupuntahan … some of the invitations and opportunities, they just come within the year. So, when you operate the campus, you sometimes need to work around on what you plan,” said Mrs. Andres.

In order to properly systemize budget allocation, there is a public bidding process that the school needs to comply with, which is stated in the Republic Act № 1984 or The Government Procurement Reform Act.

Mrs. Andres reiterated that the process is tedious. “The rules are there to prevent rin yung abuse naman ng spending and to ensure, supposedly, na maganda yung quality and yet nakakatipid.”

The bidding process also factors in the utilization of the school budget. Delays in bidding happen if there are no bidders or if they cannot comply with the bidding requirements.