JV draws line on HGAB

The pet projects inserted by legislators into the House General Appropriations Bill (HGAB) for 2027 will be dropped immediately if their proponents cannot produce documents supporting their need, Senate Finance Committee chairperson JV Ejercito said yesterday.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has until 3 November to submit documentary requirements for 6,271 infrastructure projects that were added to the House version of the proposed 2027 national budget, or risk having them removed from the spending plan.

Ejercito said Friday the DPWH had committed to removing infrastructure projects with incomplete documentary requirements before the proposed budget goes to plenary deliberations.

The 6,271 projects were not included in the executive branch’s original National Expenditure Program (NEP) but were introduced in the House-transmitted General Appropriations Bill.

A comparative review by the Senate finance panel showed that the number of DPWH projects increased from 11,420 in the NEP to 16,244 in the House version of the proposed budget.

In a letter to newly appointed DPWH Secretary Giovanni Lopez, Ejercito set the deadline for submitting complete documentary requirements and justifications for the additional projects.

These include Certificates of Implementability, Programs of Works, and geotagged photographs, which are required under the agency’s project evaluation measures.

Projects that fail to meet the requirements will be removed from the proposed 2027 DPWH budget before plenary deliberations.

Not at expense of reforms

“We need to boost our infrastructure spending, but not at the expense of the reforms we want instituted. Every delayed project has an economic cost. And every anomalous, poorly vetted project costs us even more: it wastes taxpayer money, deprives endangered communities of safety, and erodes public trust,” Ejercito said.

During the DPWH budget briefings in September, Ejercito flagged 155 flood control projects worth P8.2 billion for lacking the required documents, including Certificates of Implementability, Programs of Works, and geotagged photographs.

The requirements were part of stricter project evaluation measures introduced under former DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon during the preparation of the 2027 NEP.

Ejercito met with Lopez and Dizon on Friday to discuss the agency’s budget and the continuation of its reforms.

Both officials assured the senator of the DPWH’s cooperation in enforcing the vetting process and removing non-compliant and questionable projects before the budget goes to plenary deliberations.

Ejercito also called for institutionalizing the reforms through Senate Bill 2, or the proposed Masterplan for Infrastructure and National Development Act, which seeks to establish a long-term infrastructure master plan to guide national development beyond changes in administration.

Convene LEDAC

Business groups’ demand for a clean 2027 budget, outlined in a statement last Wednesday, reflected escalating discontent that needs immediate attention, a former economic manager said, and that would require President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to convene the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).

Former Finance Secretary Gary Teves added the key body should meet more frequently to settle contested budget items before they reach Congress, in reaction to a joint statement by 27 business and civil society organizations.

The manifesto called on Congress to remove all budget insertions lacking technical justification and to eliminate questionable allocations and alleged backdoor maneuvers ahead of the 2028 elections.

Teves said the business groups’ statement reinforces earlier appeals from civil society. But he said it was “about time” to convene the LEDAC while avoiding a reenacted budget.

He suggested the President start with an informal LEDAC of five officials: himself, the Senate President, the House Speaker, the House appropriations committee chairperson, and the Senate finance committee head. The group would craft a response and be monitored weekly.

“Here we are, still working under the presidential system,” Teves said. He described the LEDAC as a tool that “hasn’t been used well, or at all.”

Teves said many disputes over which items to remove or keep could be resolved at that level before the budget goes to Congress. He said any such arrangement should stay within the Supreme Court’s ruling, which would guide the Senate on the needed changes. He added that officials could focus on essential spending and possibly defer non-essential items.

“The ball is in the President’s court now,” Teves said, adding that the President must take the lead and call the meeting.

Teves said former President Fidel V. Ramos convened the LEDAC weekly, even though meetings were normally held monthly.

He said Ramos viewed the council as important in building cooperation between the executive branch and the legislature, and to allow executive departments to communicate with each other.

He said later administrations used the body less often, including those of former presidents Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Benigno Aquino III and Rodrigo Duterte.

“Hopefully, future presidents will use it more often and more effectively as Ramos did,” he said.