MANILA, Philippines – Is your city, province, or town among the 80 local governments getting a slice of a Department of Budget and Management (DBM) fund to increase the number of public parks and open spaces in the Philippines?

In the 2024 national budget, the DBM allocated P1.055 billion to help select cities, provinces, and towns construct new recreational spaces, or expand and improve existing ones. Citizens can help monitor how these local government units are spending these funds. By the end of the year, check if your city, province, or town has a new park or has refurbished an existing one.

Here is the list of cities, provinces, in towns, according to a July 16 DBM press release:

• Metro Manila: Caloocan City, Las Piñas City, Makati City, Malabon City, Mandaluyong City, City of Manila, Marikina City, Muntinlupa City, Navotas City, Parañaque City, Pasay City, Pasig City, Quezon City, San Juan City, Taguig City, Valenzuela City, and Pateros 
• Central Luzon: Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga 
• Calabarzon: Provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Rizal, Cavite; Bacoor City, Cavite City, Dasmarinas City, Gen. Mariano Alvarez, and Rosario, Cavite; Biñan City, Cabuyao City, San Pedro City, Santa Rosa City, Laguna; Angono, Cainta, and Taytay, Rizal 
• Bicol: Camaligan, Camarines Sur 
• Western Visayas: Provinces of Aklan, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental; Iloilo City, Bacolod City, Kalibo, Malay, Estancia, and Pavia 
• Central Visayas: Cebu and Negros Oriental; Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Talisay City, Cordova, Liloan, and Minglanilla; and Dumaguete City
• Eastern Visayas: Biliran
• Northern Mindanao: Camiguin, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, and Lanao del Norte; Cagayan de Oro City, Baloi, Lugait, and Villanueva
• Davao: Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur; Panabo City and Tagum City
• SOCCSKSARGEN:  South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat; General Santos City and Cotabato City
• Caraga: Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Islands; Surigao City, and San Jose
• Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao:  Lanao del Sur and Sulu; Marawi City, Indanan, Jolo, and Maimbung

The Metro Manila cities and its lone town Pateros are getting additional funding from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for the parks and recreational spaces they will be building using the DBM funding. A P200 million “supplemental funding” to be distributed among these local governments has been set aside from the MMDA’s own budget, said MMDA chairperson Romando Artes.

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What to watch out for

The DBM fund, called “Green Green Green,” is supposed to fund these specific types of spaces:

• Public or municipal parks and plazas
• Nature and family recreational parks
• Arboretums and botanical gardens
• Infrastructure for active mobility:
  • Physically separated bike lanes
  • Bike racks
  • Elevated or at grade pedestrian footpaths and walkways
  • Sports facilities
  • Recreational trails

The 80 local governments had to submit proposals to the DBM in order to receive the funding. Among the documents they had to submit were the following, according to this 2019 DBM presentation on the process:

• Conceptual design of the proposed project
• Vicinity map
• As-built plan
• Site development plan
• Utilities plan
• Planting plan
• General sections
• Program of Works, approved by the mayor
• Detailed estimates, approved by the mayor

The DBM also declared that all projects given funding “shall strictly conform to the design concepts, environmental principles, requirements prescribed under its implementing guidelines, and existing national laws,” during the program’s relaunch last July 11, in Pasay City.

Another government agency, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, said it would also monitor and evaluate the implementation of projects.

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History and impact of the ‘Green, Green, Green’ program

The “Green, Green, Green” program is among the programs from the Duterte administration that were carried over to the Marcos administration. It was started in 2017 by then budget secretary Benjamin Diokno. Back then, the DBM was to set aside P2.5 billion yearly for the program. For 2024, the allocation has been reduced to just over a billion pesos.

Some parks existing today are all thanks to this program. One example is the Cagayan de Oro City Eco Park, a 17-hectare park with forest areas, walking and jogging pathways, rotundas, an amphitheater, a food court, an administration building, a butterfly garden, and many bike lanes. 

It was built using P70-million from the “Green, Green, Green” program. The CDO Eco Park opened to the public in 2021, after phase one of the park was completed. As of 2022, the city government was entertaining ideas of allocating five hectares of the space for a proposed Chinatown envisioned to serve as both a new tourism draw and a gathering spot for locals.

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Urban planner Julia Nebrija, who was project head under Diokno when this program was initiated, told Rappler back in 2020, how it all came about. The DBM, at the time, wanted to counterbalance the government’s banner program for hard infrastructure, “Build, Build, Build,” with an initiative that focused on “soft” infrastructure. Hence, “Green, Green, Green” was born.

Current Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman was undersecretary at the time and supported the program, and continued it when she ended up helming the agency under the next administration.

Nebrija explained the department’s thinking at the time.

“Cities are economic drivers, they’re cultural hubs. What can we invest in that could really improve quality of life for everyday people? And so we landed on, ‘let’s invest in public open spaces.’ It’s something that is not done enough and it’s something that is so critical and can be felt immediately by a large population,” Nebrija had told Rappler.

The way the fund works is that there is a pre-allocated amount for each city or local government unit, based on population and land area, “so they don’t have to complete,” said Nebrija. However, to access the funding, the local governments would have to send a proposal and fulfill the documentary requirements listed in the previous portion of this article.

The program was well-received by mayors. It was evident to Nebrija and the budget department that it was something local governments really wanted to do.

She said, “It’s not rocket science, like you have to convince people that public space is important. They know it. They want to be outside. They want to have a place where they can bring their kids. They want to be able to enjoy their city in a new way.” – Isa Whitten/Rappler.com

Creating more public open spaces, parks, greenbelts, and recreational spaces is part of what can #MakeManilaLiveable. Rappler has a dedicated space for stories and collaborations about improving for quality of life in Philippine cities. Check it out here.