DBM backs proposal to realign P250B in flood control funds to classroom construction

The Department of Budget and Management has expressed support for a proposal that will realign P250 billion worth of flood control allocations to the construction of classrooms, which now has only P13 billion under the National Expenditure Program for 2026.

Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste made the suggestion during the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) briefing.

The P6.7-trillion proposed national budget has earmarked P274 billion worth of flood control for next year.

“The President has indicated that flood control projects are a possible source of corruption and yet the 2026 NEP includes over P250 billion in flood control projects while the provision for new classrooms is at P13 billion,” Leviste said. 

“Would DBCC support the House if we allocate much of this over P250 billion worth of flood control projects to increase the P13 billion pesos allocated to new classroom construction?" he added.

"Based on the substandard and overpriced [Department of Public Works and Highways] projects we have seen, closing the gap on [the Department of Education's] classroom shortage seems to be a much more wise use of taxpayers' money than DPWH flood control projects in the 2026 budget,” Leviste said.

'As long as DepEd can utilize'

Budget Secretary and DBCC Chair Amenah Pangandaman said Leviste’s suggestion was welcome as long as the Department of Education (DepEd) could efficiently spend such a huge allocation.

“The executive proposes the budget and then we leave it to Congress whether you think it’s wise to cut the flood control budget and move it to education, but we welcome such because, again, the theme of our budget for next year will be really to increase our investment and spending in education,” Pangandaman said.

“As long as the Department of Education can fully utilize the added allocation for the construction of classrooms, that would be okay,” she added.

Pangandaman on Monday said that the country could not afford to fund education, health, and social protection programs based on international standards because it would go beyond its present budget level.

Last year, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. vetoed, meaning removed, more than P16 billion worth of flood control projects under the Congress-approved P6.3 trillion national budget for 2025 before signing the General Appropriations Bill into law.  

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, on the other hand, said on Monday that the President withheld the release of at least P60 billion funding under the 2025 national budget because this amount funded programs that are not aligned with the administration's priorities. –NB, GMA Integrated News