Printed Copies of the 2016 People’s Budget Now Available

The People’s Budget, the citizen’s guide to the 2016 National Budget, has just been printed and available for distribution, the Department of Budget and Management announced today.

An annual publication aimed at presenting the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2016 to a general audience, the 2016 People’s Budget was launched and published online ahead of print on February 29.  

“We will be distributing printed copies of the 2016 People’s Budget to legislators, government agencies and State Universities and Colleges. Citizens interested in receiving a copy can request one through publicinfo@dbm.gov.ph,” said Francis Capistrano, Director of Knowledge Management Technical Working Group the production team of the annual People’s Budget.

Capistrano added that the Cebuano and Filipino versions of the People’s Budget will be available next week. The citizen’s guide to the budget also has an accompanying quick-glance flyer in English, Filipino, Ilocano, Bicolano, Cebuano, and Hiligaynon.

The People’s Budget features plain language and graphics-driven summaries of budget policies and reforms, macroeconomic assumptions and the fiscal program, dimensions of the national expenditure program, and priority programs and projects of the 2016 GAA. It also features a section presenting the budget process, a step-by-step guide for citizens on how to access budget documents and information online, and how to monitor agency spending and performance.

“Aside from making full disclosure of all relevant fiscal information to the public in accessible language, the People’s Budget also seeks to enable citizens to take an active role in tracking the national budget. We hope that this will be helpful to everyone in appreciating and understanding the national budget,” said Capistrano.

The country’s leading graphic designers were part of the production team of the People's Budget. Adrienne Ponce, creative director for The Origami Robot, was this year's lead designer. Dan Matutina, founder of plus63 design studio, provided some illustrations and icons.

“We made sure that the design would manifest the DBM’s vision of making the budget more interesting and citizen-friendly -- from the graphics and illustrations to the layout of the publication. We’re glad to be part of the challenging yet fulfilling work of re-creating and reinventing how people view government,” lead designer Adrienne Ponce said.