2027 budget projects thoroughly vetted, says House appropriations head

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House Committee on Appropriations chairperson Mikaela Suansing on Monday said projects in the proposed 2027 national budget had undergone several layers of review, amid concerns raised by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian over alleged “red-flag” items.

In an interview, Suansing said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) requires five documents for projects to be included in the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP): a certificate of implementability and feasibility, actual program of works, Budget Preparation Form 202, approval from the regional or municipal development council, and geotagging.

The DPWH budget proposal is then reviewed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

“We rely on DPWH and DBM’s word that these projects went through the proper vetting before they were even included in the NEP,” Suansing said.

She said the House Committee on Appropriations conducts another layer of review before projects are included in the House General Appropriations Bill.

“And then on the part of the House, there’s an additional layer of vetting for items that will be included in the House General Appropriations Bill,” Suansing said.

She added that for flood-control and drainage projects, Project NOAH and other members of the scientific community also help conduct additional validation.

Gatchalian had also flagged 189 items in the DPWH proposed budget as duplicates.

Suansing, however, said some of these may refer to different phases of the same project.

“It showed as a duplicate but actually, it is not. It’s a Phase 1 and Phase 2 of, example, a bypass road,” she explained.

Still, Suansing assured that the House would ensure that there are no actual duplications in the proposed budget.

“Most definitely, duplication in the sense na same station number, same coordinates, that one we’re looking through na wala dapat duplicate,” she said. —LDF, GMA News