A revelation that spilled out during the recent discourse of Deputy Speaker Ronnie Puno expressing dismay over the House leadership was that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) was withholding the release of project allocations in the national budget.

The slowdown in government spending was blamed for the disappointing three-percent GDP growth in the final quarter of last year, which dragged down the entire 2025 growth to 4.4 percent.

Most fiscal pundits suspected that it was the agencies, particularly the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), that were to blame for the lag, as the corruption scandal had a chilling effect on officials, leading them to withhold funds for crucial works.

Puno, however, pointed to the DBM as the culprit based, he said, on what DPWH regional directors and district engineers told members of his party.

He said they attempted to discuss the delay in the funding of the projects with the chamber’s leadership because “we cannot explain anything to our constituents because we ourselves do not know. Suddenly, we are the ones being asked: what happened to the repair of this bridge that you said would be finished this quarter? We cannot answer. We have no answers and no one to ask.”

“At first, we thought it was the DPWH because they were reorganizing. Naturally, there will be delays when you reorganize. But for us, this has already gone on for a whole quarter,” Puno bewailed.

When he learned the DBM was the cause of the bottleneck, he realized “this is a different issue.”

There must have been a purpose for the spending lull, which he hinted might have been rooted in a political agenda.

“As for the impeachment, that started in February, around 5 February, I think. But the DBM usually starts moving as early as January. So maybe this has nothing to do with the impeachment. Or maybe they are waiting for the trial to reach the Senate before releasing the funds,” he said.

Amid the crisis sparked by the Middle East conflict, the release of government funds became pivotal to districts’ development objectives.

Puno warned against the DBM’s reining in of the budget, saying that when the money is released, “we might not even have an economy left.”

“The situation is already bad. Fuel prices are high, people have no jobs and now projects that should employ construction workers and generate demand for construction materials are frozen,” he said.

Puno’s salvo was immediately met with a rejoinder by the DBM stating that the allegations against the agency came from a “misinformed” source.

In a statement, the DBM said it does not arbitrarily delay the release of funds, “nor does it create policies outside the law.”

“As provided in the President’s veto message for the 2026 General Appropriations Act, such Congress-introduced changes and adjustments require additional validation and clearance before the release of funds,” it said.

A House veteran like Puno, however, must know what he is talking about.

“They are saying there is no funding. If there is no funding, why did you authorize the projects in the first place? Shouldn’t the DBM have ensured the funding?” Puno said.

He cited the situation in his district, Antipolo, where there are no flood control projects and no major infrastructure.

The DBM and the Palace should stop playing politics with the yearly budget, since lives are on the line as the clock ticks.

“If we wait for the Senate impeachment trial, when will that be — April? May? Likely May. That’s two quarters of a stalled government and a stagnant economy,” Puno pointed out.

Whatever excuses the DBM puts forward, the bottom line is this: projects are delayed and so is the public’s recovery from yet another crisis.