Republic of the Philippines
House of Representative

Quezon City, Metro Manila

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Twentieth Congress 5 TE _G:

First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 1529

RECEIVED 2
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INTRODUCED BY HONORABLE AMADO CARLOS BOLILIA IV

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Each year, the Philippines appropriates and spends public funds on
government services through different programs and policies. The effectiveness
and necessity of these programs are regularly put into question. but legislators,
policymakers, and the public are faced with the lack of, or insufficiency of data
on policy and program evaluations. While a National Evaluation Policy
Framework (NEPF) exists under the National Economic and Development
Authority-Department of Budget and Management (NEDA-DBM) Joint
Memorandum Circular No. 2015-01, its enforcement remains inconsistent and
agencies need stronger legal obligation to implement and to enforce the
aforementioned JMC. At present, the lack of an “evaluation culture”, and the
limited scale of the conduct of evaluations can mostly be attributed to technical
and financial limitations, and varying institutional capacities of agencies to
conduct effective, transparent, and regular evaluations.

The main objective of this bill is to create and promote an active
evaluation culture in government offices through the institutionalization of the
conduct of impact evaluations which is guided by the National Evaluation
Policy Framework (NEPF). This framework aims to:

(1)Provide the standard for conducting policy and program evaluations that
are in line with current academic and international standards;

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(2)Promote transparency and impartiality in the evaluations process by
requiring the services and expertise of external evaluators in the process;
and

(3)Ensure the availability of data to the government, and most especially to
the public.

Data from these evaluations will allow policymakers to make better
informed decisions and affect changes in current programs and policies either
through modifications and readjustments to achieve target outcomes, or by
undertaking the necessary procedures to stop and defund programs, services,
and policies that are determined to be ineffective. Further, the dissemination of
these evaluations to the public, the target of these policies and services, will
help ensure they will have a more proactive role in the policy cycle by
providing valuable feedback on the performance and implementation of
government services.

Further, I would also like to stress the importance of the participation of
external evaluators. A properly conducted program evaluation must be as
impartial, and as objective as possible. An internal evaluation, even if conducted
by another government body or office, may be influenced by various
institutional biases which may put into question the evaluation’s authenticity
and validity. As such, the involvement of trustworthy, and capable external
evaluators will help reduce such instances from happening.

The NPEF should not only be a tool for improving the performance of
government programs and agencies, but also an instrument to improve the
public policy process. This is why this representation also places emphasis on
impartiality and transparency - we simply cannot allow executive agencies to
gloss over the ineffectiveness of programs and let precious resources go to
waste, and then provide the public, and sometimes even policymakers and
legislators with misleading information to mask inefficiencies, or other forms of
lapses.

In order to achieve this, the institutionalization of the NEPF will be
required. As such, the National Policy Evaluation Council (NPEC) alongside
the Program Evaluation Units (PEU) will be created to ensure and facilitate the
proper application and execution of the NPEF, conduct proper monitoring and


safekeeping of evaluations and other research data, and pursue the development
of the institutional capacity necessary for the NPEF’s implementation. In order
to streamline work, the intention is that the evaluation of programs critical to
national interest can be performed, and funded by the NPEC. Programs or other
routine services at the agency level will be evaluated by their mother agencies
and the budget for these impact evaluations will be included in the budget of the
programs subject to evaluation.

Moreover, the bill encourages a culture of learning and continuous
improvement by ensuring the utilization, dissemination, and feedback of
evaluation findings to enhance the design, planning, programming, budgeting,
and implementation of public policies, strategies, programs, projects, and other
interventions. It also aims to ensure the effective, efficient, and accountable
utilization of state resources towards attaining national development goals. This
is in line with the state’s policy to promote and protect the welfare of the people
and to maintain honesty and integrity in public service.

The benefit of evaluating programs and projects is tremendous. Insights
from evaluations can lead to improvements in program implementation, or can
save the national government from resource wastage on ineffective programs
and services.

This bill originates from House Bill No. 10907 filed in the 19th Congress.
This legislation is part of my priority bills and advocacies which I will pursue in
the 20th Congress.

In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly
sought.

AMADO CARLOS BOLILIA IV
Representative
4th District of Batangas


Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives

Quezon City, Metro Manila

Twentieth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 1529

Introduced by Representative Amado Carlos Bolilia lV

AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING THE CONDUCT OF IMPACT
EVALUATIONS AS A COMPONENT OF GOVERNMENT PROJECTS,
ACTIVITIES, SERVICES, AND POLICIES AND APPROPRIATING
FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of the Representatives of the
Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “National
Policy and Program Impact Evaluation Act.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is the policy of the State to utilize its
resources on effective and efficient programs and projects that are geared
towards the attainment of its intended national development goals.
Towards this end, the State shall develop a systematic, rigorous and
impartial evaluation policy, and to provide the framework to achieve the
following objectives:

a) Support the timely provision of relevant, impartial,
independent and valuable evidence-based information and knowledge
related to the effectiveness of the programs and projects, and the
efficiency by which the desired outcomes and impacts are achieved to
policy makers, managers and other stakeholders;


b) Promote the continuous improvement of the design, planning,
programming, budgeting and implementation of public policies, strategies,
programs, projects and other interventions through feedback models and
learning; and

c) | Provide transparency and accountability to taxpayers and
various stakeholders and inform them of the public expenditures and its
intended benefits.

SEC. 3. Coverage. - This Act shall cover public policies, programs,
projects, services and other activities implemented by the departments,
agencies, state universities and colleges, government-owned and
controlled corporations, government financial institutions and other
instrumentalities of the executive branch of the national government. This
shall include those that are funded by local or foreign funds or a
combination thereof, and shall also include those contracted to private
sector and civil society organizations.

The National Policy Evaluation Council (NPEC) created under
Section 4 of this Act shall prioritize the impact evaluation of policies,
programs, projects, services, and other activities with significant funding.
This does not preclude the NPEC from including other activities imbued
with public interest in the coverage of this Act.

SEC. 4. Evaluations as a Program Component. - All covered agencies
shall include an impact evaluation plan as a component of policies,
programs, projects or services in accordance with the provisions of this
Act.

SEC. 5. External Evaluators. - |mpact evaluations may be conducted
with external evaluators in accordance with the intention of this Act to
promote transparency and objectivity, subject to existing rules and
regulations, and fund availability.

SEC. 6. National Policy Evaluation Framework. - The National Policy
Evaluation Framework (NPEF) is hereby institutionalized to guide all
government agencies covered in this Act, and ensure systematic and


regular evaluations of national government policies, programs, projects
and services. The NPEF shall include the following guiding principles and
evaluation standards:

a) Evaluation criteria;

b) Evaluation competencies;

c) Evaluation ethics;

d) Impartiality;

e) Evaluation capacity building;

f) Evaluation scale;

g) Evaluation design and execution; and

h) Evaluation contents.

SEC. 7. National Policy Evaluation Council. - The National Policy
Evaluation Council is created as the lead agency for implementing the
NPEF, = which shall be composed of the _ following:

a) Undersecretary of the National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) in charge of monitoring and evaluation, as Chairperson;

b) Undersecretary of the Department of Budget and
Management (DBM) in charge of government performance reporting,
monitoring, evaluation and improvement, as Vice-Chairperson,

c) Head of the Presidential Management Staff or duly appointed
representative;

d) Deputy Secretary General or Director General in charge of
policy planning, research and evaluation in the House of Representatives;

e) Deputy Secretary General or Director General in charge of
policy planning, research and evaluation in the Senate;

h) Head of the Philippine Statistics Authority or duly appointed
representative, as members.

i) A duly appointed representative from the Philippine Institute
of Development studies; as members


SEC. 8. Functions. — The NPEC shall perform the following functions:

a) Formulate the basic guidelines for ensuring systematic and
regular evaluations of national government policies, programs, projects
and services;

b) Serve as the national government's administrative policy
center for monitoring and evaluation (M&E), providing guidelines for
monitoring, measuring and reporting the performance of public policies,
programs, projects and services,

c) Formulate, coordinate and implement comprehensive and
continuous program to develop and strengthen the evaluation capacities,
including the integrated M&E system, of the national government and its
agencies and instrumentalities;

d) Provide the overall policy direction, coordination, formulation
and implementation of the evaluation agenda of the national government
and its agencies and instrumentalities;

e) Monitor the progress of M&E development,

f) Develop a comprehensive program to improve the national
government's performance;

g) _ Initiate and coordinate the preparation of the annual national
performance report;

h) Facilitate or manage the national or sectoral evaluations and
special evaluation studies, in addition to those conducted by implementing
agencies;

i) Work with the private sector and civil society groups to
promote feedback mechanisms as input to M&E of the national
government and all its agencies and instrumentalities;


i) Facilitate the development of national and regional M&E
professional associations;

k) Disseminate the results of evaluations to government policy or
decision-makers and managers of programs, projects and services of the
agencies; and

!) Meet every quarter or as often as necessary and authorize the
creation of technical committees, advisory bodies, and other mechanisms
to ensure high-quality evaluations.

SEC. 9. NPEC Secretariat. — The monitoring and evaluation staff of the
NEDA shall, in the interim, serve as the NPEC Secretariat. Within six (6)
months upon the effectivity of this Act, the NPEC Secretariat, attached to
the NEDA, shall be formally organized to provide technical, managerial
and administrative support to the NPEC. An Executive Director shall head
the NPEC Secretariat. The staffing, services and divisions to effectively
support the NPEC’s functions and responsibilities may be created, subject
to existing laws, rules and regulations.

SEC. 10. NPEC Secretariat Functions. - The NPEC Secretariat shall
perform the following functions:

a) Recommend to the NPEC for its approval the evaluation
policies, principles, standards, criteria, strategies and guidelines for the
effective implementation of the NPEF;

b) Recommend to the NPEC the format and content of
evaluation plans and reports;

c) Monitor and report on the progress and results of evaluation
activities undertaken by the NPEC and implementing agencies;

d) Serve as a repository of all evaluation plans and reports of the
national government and its agencies and instrumentalities;

e) Upload on its official website all the final evaluation reports on


the public policies, programs, projects and services of the national
government and its agencies and instrumentalities within fifteen (15) days
from its completion;

f) Notify the key stakeholders of the national government about
the final evaluation plans and completed evaluations of public policies,
programs, projects and services, within fifteen (15) days from its
completion;

g) Provide hard and soft copies of the final evaluation reports to
the following stakeholders of the Philippine Congress: House Speaker;
Senate President; concerned chairpersons and committee secretaries of
congressional committees with jurisdiction over public policies, programs,
projects and services being evaluated; and the support offices of the
House of Representatives and the Senate performing budget and policy
research and technical assistance to the Members of Congress;

h) Disseminate evaluation plans and completed evaluation
reports of the national government and its agencies and instrumentalities;

i) Conduct capacity-development activities on evaluation with
partners from the government, private and civil society sectors;

i) Conduct evaluations as authorized by the NPEC; and

) Prepare a consolidated report of individual evaluations for the
NPEC's appropriate action.

SEC. 11. National Evaluation Agenda. - The NPEC shall, with the
assistance of its Secretariat, formulate and periodically review a six-year
National Evaluation Agenda to coincide with the preparation timeframe of
the Philippine Development Plan and Public Investment Program. The
National Evaluation Agenda shall identify the critical public policies,
programs, projects and services to be subjected to the NPEC’s diagnostic,
formative or summative evaluations, and shall include a timeline of
implementation.


SEC. 12. Agency Evaluation Agenda. - All agencies and
instrumentalities of the executive branch of the national government shall
formulate and maintain an updated six-year Agency Evaluation Agenda.
The agency evaluation agenda shall specify the public policies, programs,
projects and services to be subjected to diagnostic, formative or
summative evaluations by the agency's program evaluation unit, and shall
include a timeline of implementation.

SEC. 13. Program Evaluation Units. - The implementing agencies
shall establish a Program Evaluation Unit (PEU) or have an existing unit
assume functions of the PEU. These shall be established at the central
level, subject to existing policies, rules, and regulations of the DBM on
organizational and staffing patterns. Likewise, a senior-level M&E
advisory committee for support and oversight of M&E initiatives shall be
established.

The NPEC shall issue the guidelines governing the formation and
operation of program evaluation units of implementing agencies.

SEC. 14. PEU Functions. -— The program evaluation unit shall perform
the following functions:

a) Formulate and submit the agency's six-year rolling evaluation
agenda to the head of the agency, copy furnished the NPEC Secretariat;

b) — Implement the evaluation agenda;
c) Plan, conduct, and manage the evaluations of policies,
Programs, projects and services within the mandated functions and

responsibilities of the department, agency or _ instrumentality;

d) Ensure that evaluations are undertaken in accordance with
the provisions of this Act;

e@) Manage the agency's program evaluation budget and related
activities;


f) Submit to the agency head the evaluation findings and
recommendations, copy furnished the NPEC and its Secretariat;

g) Serve as a repository of all evaluation studies conducted or
commissioned by the department, agency or instrumentality;

h) _ Upload on its website the completed evaluation plans and final
evaluation reports within fifteen (15) days from completion;

i) Submit the evaluation plans and final evaluation reports to the
NPEC Secretariat in accordance with the prescribed guidelines;

j) Develop and strengthen the M&E system of the department,
agency or instrumentality;

) Provide input to budget and policy discussions.

SEC. 15. Utilization of Impact Evaluations — Agencies shall
make reference to relevant evaluation findings and recommendations
from completed evaluations, to make changes and adjustments to the
policies, programs, projects, services, and other activities.

The heads of departments, agencies and instrumentalities shall
submit the reports on their management response, other actions taken on
the findings of completed evaluations, and recommendations to the
NPEC.

Likewise, the heads of departments, agencies and instrumentalities
covered by this Act shall ensure that M&E data, findings and
recommendations are used to guide and improve the planning,
programming, budgeting, formulation, implementation and oversight of
the public policies, programs, projects or services.

Further, the reports generated through the implementation of this
act shall be made accessible to the public through general publication or
through posting on the agency's and the NPEC’s respective website.

SEC. 16. Fund Allocation. - All covered agencies and


instrumentalities including those identified by the NPEC in accordance
with Section 3 of this Act, shall allocate a sufficient portion of the agency
budget which shall be used for:

a) Evaluation capacity development;

b) Salaries, recruitment and training to ensure an adequate
supply of internal personnel competent in evaluation;

c) Operations and maintenance of the Program Evaluation Units
or its counterparts; and

d) External professional service fees for impact evaluations.

The cost of the conduct of an impact evaluation shall be charged
against the funding allocation of the program subject to impact evaluation.
The amount of which shall be determined by the head of the agency, in
consultation with their respective senior-level M&E advisory committee.

SEC. 17. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the initial
organization of the NPEC and its Secretariat, including its initial
operations, shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 18. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within ninety (90)
days from the effectivity of this Act, the NPEC shall promulgate the
necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this
Act. This IRR shall include the formulation of the National Policy
Evaluation Framework, and all other necessary policies to facilitate the
conduct of impact evaluations.

SEC. 19. Amendments. - The NPEF, including the guidelines for
NPEF’s implementation, may be amended by the NPEC based on
academic and/or scientific innovations, the findings and recommendations
of the evaluations, and feedback of various stakeholders.

SEC. 20. Separability Clause. — |f any provision of this Act is declared
unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining parts or provisions not affected
shail remain in full force and effect.


SEC. 21. Repealing Clause. — All laws, executive orders, issuances,
tules, and regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act are repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 22. Effectivity.- This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general

circulation.

Approved,