National Consultancy for Study and Development of Program Expenditure Classification for Social Sectors in LGUs (remote with travel for 14.5 months)

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In the Philippines, decentralization and the increasing fiscal and service delivery responsibilities of local government units (LGUs) make the subnational level particularly important for understanding the adequacy, equity, efficiency, and effectiveness of public financing for children. LGUs play a central role in delivering many essential services that directly influence child well-being, including health, nutrition, early childhood development, education, child protection, social welfare and protection, water and sanitation, and local infrastructure. At the same time, LGUs operate under widely varying fiscal capacities, institutional arrangements, governance environments, and administrative capabilities. These differences create significant disparities in the resources available for children and in the quality of services ultimately delivered.

Understanding how public resources are allocated, prioritized, executed, and monitored at the local level is therefore critical to determining whether public financing is effectively reaching children, particularly those experiencing poverty, vulnerability, and exclusion.

The importance of examining subnational public expenditure has become even more pronounced following the landmark Mandanas-Garcia Supreme Court ruling and the subsequent implementation of the full devolution transition plan. The increasing National Tax Allotment (NTA) for LGUs presents an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen decentralized governance and improve development outcomes. Investments in health, nutrition, education, child protection, social welfare, and local infrastructure can potentially be better aligned with local priorities and contextual realities. If effectively managed, these additional resources can contribute to reducing regional disparities, improving service delivery performance, and accelerating progress toward child-related development objectives.

However, increased fiscal resources do not automatically translate into improved outcomes for children. The post-Mandanas-Garcia devolution transition continues to face significant implementation challenges. Capacities among LGUs remain highly uneven, with considerable variation in technical expertise, institutional maturity, human resources, planning systems, financial management practices, and data availability. In many local governments, social sector planning and service delivery remain fragmented across departments and offices, limiting the ability to adopt integrated, child-centred approaches to development. Furthermore, constraints in planning, budgeting, procurement, contract management, financial reporting, monitoring, and programme implementation continue to affect the quality and effectiveness of public spending.

The effectiveness of devolution also depends on the continued coordination between national government agencies and LGUs. While responsibilities have increasingly shifted to local governments, many services still require complementary national financing, policy guidance, technical assistance, standards setting, and monitoring systems. Effective intergovernmental coordination remains essential to ensure service continuity, maintain quality standards, and address disparities across local governments.

Recognizing these challenges, recent policy reforms have emphasized the importance of results-oriented planning and budgeting practices at the local level. The LGU Budget Operations Manual (2023) underscores that local budgets should be anchored on clearly defined functions, activities, and projects linked to expected results, while aligning local priorities with national development goals and strategies. The Manual further institutionalizes Performance-Informed Budgeting (PIB) as a key budgeting approach, promoting the use of performance information to strengthen the link between resource allocation and development outcomes.

These reforms are complemented by the national government's adoption of the Program Expenditure Classification (PREXC) framework. PREXC aims to strengthen the integration of planning and budgeting by organizing expenditure around programmes, sub-programmes, and outcomes rather than solely around traditional line-item classifications. The framework seeks to clarify how government strategies, interventions, and investments contribute to achieving sectoral and socio-economic objectives. While PREXC has been increasingly applied and analysed at the national government level, its potential application at the subnational level remains largely unexplored. Yet there is considerable value in examining whether the framework can be adapted to the realities of decentralized public financial management systems.

Despite ongoing reforms, weak institutional capacities and inconsistent operationalization of results-based budgeting approaches continue to constrain public financial management performance at the local level. Planning processes are often insufficiently linked to policy priorities and fiscal realities, resulting in unrealistic plans, fragmented resource allocation decisions, and limited fiscal discipline. Policy formulation, development planning, and budgeting continue to operate in parallel rather than as integrated processes in many LGUs.

Ultimately, these challenges weaken the capacity of local governments to translate public expenditure into improved services and development outcomes. Addressing these weaknesses remains a priority within the Philippine PFM Reform Roadmap 2024–2028, particularly under the local government PFM reform pillars. Strengthening the integration of planning, budgeting, expenditure management, monitoring, and performance reporting is critical to improving allocative and operational efficiency at the local level. In line with the government’s commitment to strengthening transparency and accountability, reforms should also focus on enhancing the quality, accessibility, and use of financial and performance information across the budget cycle. Improved transparency enables greater public scrutiny and informed participation, while stronger accountability mechanisms help ensure that public resources are managed prudently and directed towards achieving intended development outcomes. These reforms are fundamental to fostering a results-oriented, performance-informed, and citizen-centred local public financial management system.

Against this backdrop, UNICEF, in partnership with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Local Government and Regional Coordination Bureau, proposes to undertake an assessment and piloting to explore the feasibility, applicability, relevance, and potential policy value of applying Program Expenditure Classification at the subnational level, with a focus on social sector programmes and expenditures contributing to child outcomes, including nutrition, health, education, social protection and welfare, and water and sanitation. The assignment shall include comprehensive mapping of existing national and subnational PREXC classifications and related expenditure practices, identifying gaps and opportunities for greater alignment, and examine how PREXC is currently linked to local planning, budgeting, expenditure management, and reporting processes.

Building on the assessment, the undertaking shall also explore to develop and pilot an enhanced PREXC framework for local governments in selected LGUs representing different institutional, fiscal, and capacity contexts. The pilot will include technical assistance and capacity-building, testing and refinement of the framework, and assessment of the data, systems, institutional arrangements, and capacities required for its application along with alignment with existing systems such as CBETT.

Ultimately, the support on PREXC is expected to contribute to Philippines Government’s broader PFM by It will contribute to strengthening the capacity of local governments to understand and manage public resources through a clearer linkage between programmes, expenditures, outputs and outcomes, with particular emphasis on improving the adequacy, equity, efficiency, and effectiveness of public financing for children.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:  Consultancy for Study and Development of Program Expenditure Classification for Social Sectors in LGUs.pdf

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• An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• A separate financial proposal (only acceptable in the format of the linked template)  Financial proposal Consultant PREXC LGU Social Sectors.docx

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Advertised: 21 Oct 2026 Singapore Standard Time
Applications close: 31 Oct 2026 Singapore Standard Time

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