Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte (Facebook)

Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte says former Senate President Franklin Drilon's proposal for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to delay the implementation of certain public works untill after the mid-term elections in May could do more harm than good. 

“Putting infrastructure projects on hold till the year’s second half, especially those planned public works meant to make vulnerable communities highly resilient ahead of this year’s typhoon season, will mean putting these places at risk anew this year for the tropical cyclones and other natural calamities of increasing frequency and intensity as a consequence of the climate crisis,” Villafuerte, president of the National Unity Party (NUP), said in a statement Friday, Jan. 3. 

The veteran congressman expressed worries that Drilon's proposal could effectively put off efforts to fix infrastructure projects heavily damaged during the spate of destructive typhoons during the final quarter of 2024. 

Aside from hobbling government efforts to boost the resiliency of high-risk communities, the delay in these public works would result to fewer jobs for Filipinos. 

With these remarks, Villafuerte dismissed Drilon's statement Wednesday wherein the latter tagged certain DPWH projects as congressional “pork barrel” projects, the implementation of which should be postponed by President Marcos. 

Drilon suggested that such projects be classified as ventures with funding that were “for later release” or FLR. 

Villafuerte also pointed to the dire implications of suspending critical DPWH infrastructure works under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2025 that was enacted by President Marcos only last Dec. 30. 

The immediate implementation of the projects are crucial, Villafuerte said, especially for climate mitigation and adaptation. 

Citing an example, Villafuerte said travel to Bicol became a nightmare during the holidays last December due to the heavy damage caused by typhoons to the Andaya highway in Camarines Sur. This led to travel delays of seven to eight hours. 

If the government heeds Drilon's FLR proposal and puts on hold the completion of projects to fix for good the Andaya highway, then motorists and commuters will have to brace again for the same travel nightmare later this year in the face of devastating storms. 

“I am afraid former SP Drilon has made a sweeping statement with his proposal for certain DPWH works to be classified by President Marcos as FLR on the ex-senator’s belief that these are pork barrel projects of legislators,” said Villafuerte, a former three-term Camarines Sur governor. 

In the first place, he said, “These are not pork barrel projects of legislators by the very definition of the Supreme Court (SC) on what actually constitutes pork barrel projects that the High Tribunal ruled as unconstitutional in a 2013 decision." 

“Rather than being sourced from lump sum discretionary outlays in the annual GAA and identified by legislators after the enactment of the national budget, these projects whose implementation Drilon wants to be deferred till after the May polls have been identified or listed under the line-item budgeting in which every one of them has a specific allocation or line under the budget of a specific agency, which, in this case, is the DPWH, based on the GAA already enacted into law by the President,” Villafuerte explained. 

“Moreover, these projects are designed to create more jobs and drive higher growth, especially in the countryside where these are to be implemented,” he noted.