Luistro: P1.31-B infra budget for my district was proposed by DPWH

Batangas second district representative and House justice committee chair Gerville Luistro on Wednesday said the P1.31 billion worth of infrastructure projects allocated for her district under the House-approved 2027 national budget is around the same amount proposed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

This was Luistro's was response to criticisms made by budget watchdog People’s Budget Coalition (PBC) which identifies the budget amendments made by the House as “insertions.”

PBC tagged Luistro for having one of the largest DPWH allocation for her district with P1.31 billion.

Luistro, however, said that requests for funding of infrastructure projects are first submitted by the DPWH district engineering offices, then to the Regional Office, and finally to the Central Office.

She added that the DPWH Central Office’s budget proposal will then be subjected to the approval of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), since it is the DBM which submits the proposed national budget of the President or the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“The process is very tedious. When the NEP reaches the House, it is deliberated by the Appropriations Committee then before the House plenary, when amendments are made for the approval of the House General Appropriations Bill. I don’t understand how things like that [of me being tagged as having one of the highest allocations] will happen,” Luistro said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

“What was reported to me was what was included in the NEP [for the Second District of Batangas] was included as well in the House General Appropriations Bill [we approved on third reading]. I was told it was almost the same amount,” Luistro added.

Cong. Gerville Reyes-Luistro, aminadong walang alam sa sinasabing budget insertion https://t.co/xzvK7i1TR8

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) October 28, 2026

Basis

Luistro also said she made inquiries on the DPWH district engineering office involved, and that the same DPWH district engineering office could not figure out where the P1.3 billion came from.

“I asked the district office about the P1.3 billion, and they could not find the basis of that amount,” Luistro added.

Nevertheless, Luistro said she is still finding out how such budget amendment or “insertion” is being attributed to her.

“I would like to express my interest to see that list so I can verify for myself also what really happened,” Luistro said.

But as far as PBC's Nadine Suzara is concerned, the 2027 budget approved by the House is a "very politician-centered budget."

"It does not address our long term problems: Lack of healthcare, education, malnutrition, stunting, lack of livelihood assitance, among others," Suzara said in a separate dzBB interview.

"Of the P7.2 trillion, we will only have P1.515 trillion because the rest will go to debt service, shares of local government in the tax collection, the cost of running the government such as salaries of workers and maintenance and other operating expenses," Suzara added. —Llanesca Panti/ VAL, GMA News