By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter
THE PHILIPPINE government must ensure that the P1.11-trillion budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will not just be allocated to small-scale local projects and corruption-laden flood control projects, analysts said, saying these projects won’t spur economic growth.
“Infrastructure projects supposedly have high economic multiplier effects but not when projects are questionable and (involve) corruption-laden flood control or road re-blocking activities,” Enrico P. Villanueva, a senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines Los Baños Economics department, said in an X message.
“For these projects, government should resort to public-private partnerships and foreign aid funded projects.”
He said these modes of funding will need less outright cash from the government and will be less prone to corruption.
Senator Maria Imelda R. Marcos had earlier urged her brother President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to cut at least P188 billion from the DPWH’s budget to ensure that the spending plan does not violate the Constitution, which mandates that the Education sector gets the highest funding.
The President postponed the signing of the 2025 national budget into law on Dec. 30 from the initial Dec. 20 schedule after criticisms over lawmakers’ decision to cut the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.’s P74-billion subsidy next year and reduce the budget of the Department of Education (DepEd), according to Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin.
Under the bicameral conference committee report of the P6.352-trillion national budget next year, lawmakers added more than P284 billion to the DPWH budget to P1.11 trillion from P825.12 billion initially proposed by the House of Representatives.
Philippine lawmakers had cut about P12 billion from the DepEd’s 2025 budget meant for computers and gadgets for public school use, which civic groups have criticized for being illegal and will likely hurt efforts to solve the country’s learning crisis.
“While infrastructure development is essential for economic growth and job creation, allocating P1.11 trillion to DPWH raises questions about prioritization and accountability,” Philippine Institute for Development Studies Senior Research Fellow John Paolo R. Rivera said in a Viber message.
Senator and finance committee chairperson Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanazares has said the DPWH still sees right-of-way issues, delays in securing local government unit (LGU) permits as roadblocks in implementing flood control projects.
Based on data from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, a total 11 tropical cyclones entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility last year.
Congress has been scrutinizing state flood-control projects after houses and people mostly in Metro Manila and nearby provinces were swept away by raging flood waters by tropical storms this year.
“It is doubtful that the additional funds of DPWH were channeled to strategic infrastructure projects that would spur economic growth. Time and again, legislators allocate funds for hyperlocal projects,” Zy-za Nadine M. Suzara, a public budget analyst and former executive director of policy think tank Institute for Leadership, Empowerment and Democracy, said in a Viber message.