Bicam OKs

P529.595 billion, down from the Senate GAB amount of P570.5 billion and House GAB’s P624.48 billion.

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The DPWH budget was already significantly slashed by Congress earlier in the budget process, if compared to the executive department's proposed P880 billion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP), a result of the backlash from the flood control corruption scandal.

The DPWH budget was the lawmakers' last order of business at past midnight on Thursday, with the contentious agenda being the disagreement over the Senate’s proposed P45 billion reduction in DPWH’s GAB budget.

But Senate finance committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian said the reduction based on adjusted construction material price data (CMPD) resulted in a budget reduction of P20.7 billion from the original amount of P45 billion.

This P20.7 billion “savings” or DPWH budget reduction would be realigned as follows — P16.52 billion for PhilHealth, and P4.252 billion for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRRMF).

Due to the realignment, the bicam proposed a P129.782-billion budgetary support for PhilHealth, a drastic increase from the zero subsidy given to the state insurer under the 2025 General Appropriations Act.

The DPWH funds realignment also resulted in a total bicam-proposed P39.8 billion budget for NDRRMF.

Gatchalian said he is confident President Marcos would not veto any budget items once enrolled, ratified and transmitted to Malacañang for his signature.