Noticeably, the 2025 DPWH budget increased by P213 billion, from P900 billion under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to P1.113 trillion after the bicameral conference committee.
God willing and with an enlightened electorate, in the exercise of congressional oversight, among others, I pledge to scrutinize each and every additional item that caused the spike in the agency’s budget, among other items in the 2025 GAA.
Having said that, assuming it comes from congressional insertions, let me reiterate my usual and oft-repeated concern about the attendant poor or lack of proper planing and vetting by the DPWH, which has the proper authority to implement these “whimsically inserted” budgeted items that could very well end up in either unutilization of funds or poor implementation that will not be responsive to the needs and priorities of the country in general and the communities in particular.
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