MANILA, Philippines – Mahigit P115 bilyon halaga ang natuklasang inilaan para sa “shadow” flood control projects ngayong taon, ayon sa pag-aaral ng University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG).
Natuklasan na ang “shadow” flood control budget, na sumasakop sa mga proyekto sa labas ng official Flood Management Program (FMMP), ay “consistently grown over the years,” mula sa P81.552 bilyon noong 2022 sa P115.262 bilyon ngayong 2025.
“This means that in the 2025 GAA, the budget for flood control projects outside the FMP is nearly 50% larger than the FMP’s own allocation,” saad sa policy note na inilabas ng UP-NCPAG.
“To further illustrate, the majority of the P115-billion budget in 2025 was allocated for the construction or maintenance of general structures like walls, revetments, dikes, slope/riverbank protection, drainage systems, and coastal protection infrastructure. This shows that a large part of flood control spending happens outside the main program,” dagdag pa.
Ayon sa UP-NCPAG, bagama’t ang expenditure sa ilalim ng flood management ay kadalasang napag-uusapan ng publiko, ang iba pang aspeto ng GAA na may kaugnayan sa Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) allocation “deserve the same level of scrutiny.”
Kabilang dito ang mga alokasyon ng DPWH sa lindol, landslide, sunog, at storm surge na pasok sa iba pang program areas ng badyet ng ahensya.
Hindi hayagang pinapangalanan ang mga ito bilang “disaster” expenditures, ngunit tinutukoy na infrastructure investments na mahalaga sa pagpapababa ng multi-hazard vulnerability.
Tinukoy din ng institusyon ang “immense” scale ng paggastos sa road infrastructure kung saan ang pondo para sa konstruksyon, repair at rehabilitasyon ng mga kalsada ay umaabot sa P541.98 bilyon sa 2025 GAA.
Bagamat nakatanggap ang DPWH ng sapat na pondo sa mga nakalipas na taon, “our disaster woes have worsened,” ayon sa UP-NCPAG.
“Albay alone invested a staggering P16.2 billion in taxpayers’ money for flood mitigation, boasting 273 different flood control projects since 2018. Yet even with this investment, the province lost as much P7.3 billion in infrastructure damage across a 6-year period (2017-2023), the highest in the country.”
“Even still, this pattern repeats across the entirety of the Philippines. Oriental Mindoro’s allotment of P11.3 billion across 138 flood control projects failed to avert P4.1-billion infrastructure-specific damage; not counting other losses in agriculture, human lives, and livelihood.” RNT/JGC
