Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda has proposed an ordinance adopting the Child Budget and Expenditure Tagging and Tracking (CBETT) system in Baguio City to ensure that government funds intended for children’s welfare, protection, health, education, and development are properly allocated, monitored, and evaluated across all city programs and services.
Under the proposed measure, the CBETT system will become an integral part of the city’s planning, investment programming, budgeting, implementation, monitoring, and reporting processes.
The proposed ordinance will apply to all city government departments, offices, and units involved in planning, budgeting, and implementing programs affecting children.
To oversee implementation, the ordinance proposes the creation of a CBETT Team composed of various city offices and agencies. The team will be headed by the City Mayor’s Office with the City Budget Office serving as co-chairperson, while the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) will act as secretariat.
Members will include representatives from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), City Health Services Office (CHSO), Department of Education (DepEd)-Baguio, City Planning, Development and Sustainability Office, City Accounting Office (CPDSO), City Treasury Office, Management Information and Technology Division (MITD), Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO), City Administrator’s Office, City Library, the Baguio City Council’s Committee on Women, Children and Urban Poor, and the Local Council for the Protection of Children.
The ordinance also requires all concerned offices to designate permanent and alternate focal persons to ensure continuity in the implementation of the CBETT system.
Among the functions of the CBETT Team are identifying and classifying child-related programs, tracking appropriations and expenditures for child-focused interventions, ensuring alignment of expenditures with the city’s development plans and national child development frameworks, reviewing and validating reports prior to submission to national oversight agencies, and recommending policies and capacity-building measures to strengthen child-responsive governance.
The proposed measure further mandates the establishment of a centralized CBETT database and dashboard in coordination with the Management Information and Technology Division to improve transparency, accountability, audit readiness, and data integrity in the monitoring of child-related funds and expenditures.
The ordinance also provides that the CBETT Team shall meet at least quarterly or as necessary to ensure continuous coordination, monitoring, and compliance with national guidelines on child budgeting and expenditure tracking.
The proposed ordinance was approved on first reading by the Baguio City Council on May 18, 2026 and subsequently referred to the Committee on Social Services, Women, and Urban Poor for review.**Jordan G. Habbiling
