A Mindanao lawmaker pushed for an increase in the 2023 budget of the Department of Works and Highways (DPWH) during the plenary deliberations in the House of Representatives.

Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman lamented the massive job losses as a result of the P68.4 billion that was slashed from the proposed DPWH budget for next year.

Under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) submitted by the national government to Congress, DPWH has a heavily slashed proposed budget of P717.31 billion. This was a far cry from this year’s P785.24-billion approved budget.

The Lower Chamber began the period of sponsorship and debates on the P5.268-trillion General Approriations Bill (GAB) during plenary session on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

“Alam natin ‘yung infrastructure sa DPWH, madaling maglikha ng trabaho sa distrito, sa munisipyo at sa probinsya ... Malaking (bilang ng) trabaho din ang nabawas sa ating kababayan dahil sa malaking slash ng budget ng DPWH (We know the infrastructure at DPWH can easily create jobs in the district, municipality, and in the province ... A huge number of jobs of our countrymen were lost because of the big slash in the DPWH bugdet),” he said.

Hataman’s push for a budget hike was prompted by the sponsorship speech of Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo who said that economic recovery was one guiding principle in crafting the 2023 GAB.

READ: Budget debates begin as GAB reaches House plenary

“Kanina, binabanggit nyo ‘yung infrastructure ay multiplier and engine ng ating economy, pero bakit dito sa NEP 2023 nagkaroon ng P68.4-billion slash sa budget ng DPWH? So ang ibig sabihin ba nito, malaki-laki din ang nabawas sa GDP contribution ng infrastructure natin? (You mentioned a while ago that infrastructure was the multiplier and engine of our economy but why here in NEP 2022 had a P68.4-billion DPWH budget cut? So does this mean there was a huge slash from GDP contribution in our infrastructure?), ” Hataman asked.

Quimbo then responded by saying the infrastructure budget was not only lodged in DPWH but in other agencies as well.

She added that the proposed 2023 national budget also contains funds to enhance digital infrastructure, bringing the total infrastructure allocation to P1.019 trillion.

Hataman acknowledged the same and wondered why the DPWH budget was slashed.

The lawmaker underlined how it could help address the country’s rising poverty incidence by creating more employment.

“Gusto nating malaman kung bakit iyun ang na-reach na decision ng DBCC (Development Budget Coordination Committee) pagdating sa budget ng DPWH (We want to know why that decision was reached by the DBCC when it comes to the DPWH budget),” he said.