PBBM orders gov’t-wide budget, spending disclosure via DBM’s COMPASS

MANILA, October 1 ------ President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered government-wide disclosure of budget and spending data through the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) COMPASS Portal, allowing the public to track government money from appropriation and fund release to procurement and project implementation.

Marcos issued Executive Order (EO) No. 126, requiring national government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions (GFIs), to submit, disclose, update and publish information through the Centralized Open Monitoring Platform for Appropriations and Spending Statistics (COMPASS). The platform will provide access to information across the public spending cycle, including appropriations, allotments, fund releases, procurement, project implementation and completion.

Acting Budget Secretary Kim Robert de Leon said COMPASS would allow users to access Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs), Notices of Cash Allocation (NCAs), National Tax Allotment (NTA) and Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) releases. Under EO 126, covered agencies are accountable for the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of the information they submit. Failure to comply may be grounds for administrative and disciplinary sanctions under existing laws, rules and regulations.

COMPASS will interface with existing government systems, including the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS), Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation (DIME) and the E-Gov PH App. The order also creates a COMPASS Council chaired by the DBM, with the Department of Information and Communications Technology as co-chair and the Department of Finance and Department of the Interior and Local Government as members, to oversee disclosure policies, standards and agency compliance. Local government units are encouraged to participate in the platform.

Source: pna.gov.ph