Said fund amounts to Php 397.2 billion under the central office of the DPWH. She also mentioned the redundant funds that have been allotted for a single road project, such as the Php 24 million Davao-Cotabato Road despite having a budget allocation of Php 73 million in Region 12.
“Hanggang ngayon nanatiling lump sum po ito. Paano po nangyari na hinihingi natin ‘yung breakdown, patuloy na walang breakdown itong ikinalat na lump sum? (Until now the lump sum remains. How is it possible that no breakdown was released on the lump sum?),” Brosas questioned.
The DPWH responded that it would submit the requested breakdowns of the said funds.
The Supreme Court (SC) declared as unconstitutional in 2013 the pork barrel system of the country, including lump sum funds and budget insertions.
Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves also questioned the unequal fund allocation of the department to each district in the country.
“If you would like to look at the amounts these are already available and I think the Committee on Appropriation is in possession of these numbers,” Villar responded.
Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism (DOT) whose budget was deliberated on the same day proposed the utilization of rapid antigen testing for air travel. It claimed that the results of the said testing are released within a shorter period of time compared to the standard RT-PCR testing.
However, the DOH earlier cited the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation that rapid antigen testing is not advisable. – Report from Daniel Manalastas
