Congressman Eulogio Rodriguez will have a lot of lobbying to do to boost the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) allocation for Catanduanes infrastructure projects in 2023.
From the over P2 billion actual budget for 2022, the proposed allocation for the island’s infra in the agency’s proposed budget in the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP) totaled only P1.85 billion, a reliable source stated.
District Engineer Edy Ferdinand Joven of the DPWH Catanduanes District Engineering Office, however, told the Tribune in an interview last week that the 2023 NEP figures are not yet final.
He said that the allocation could change once the House of Representatives deliberate on the 2023 NEP.
That is why the DPWH district is not yet conducting surveys of proposed projects in the NEP list in preparation for its bidding by December 2022, the DE disclosed.
We will proceed with the required surveys and preparation of programs of work only when the House approves the General Appropriations Bill and transmit it to the Senate, he added.
But then there could be additional changes during the deliberation of the bill by the bicameral conference committee.
At the Bicam, as the committee is popularly known, legislators usually make their own insertions and changes to the budget, especially in the list and allocations for infrastructure projects.
DE Joven admitted that in the 2023 NEP, majority of the DPWH districts in Bicol had considerably lower infrastructure allocations compared to the current year’s budget.
The Tribune source also claimed that more than three-fourths of the allocation for 2023 projects in the list were identified to be implemented at the DPWH regional office, which has authority to bid out projects with a cost of P50 million or more.
It appears that next year’s projects were apparently proposed during the stint of former Congressman Hector Sanchez, judging from the type and scope of the projects.
Included in the DPWH regional office’s allocation are the construction of water systems, the Caramoran población bypass road, tourism access road flood control structures and dikes.
On the other hand, the district’s allocation list includes the Catanduanes circumferential road, several bridges, tourism access roads, bypass roads, seawalls and flood control structures, multi-purpose buildings, and solar-powered water systems.