The government is giving priority to measures addressing flooding in the country by giving substantial allocation to flood-control projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), as well as efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change.

During a press briefing in Malacanang, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman was asked about the government plans to address massive flooding in the country.

Pangandaman said that the DPWH has a flagship project called the Flood Management Program that received an allocation of P185 billion for this year.

“For 2024, we proposed P215.643 billion under the Department of Public Works and Highways Flood Management Program,” she said.

On top of this, there are also foreign-assisted projects, for example, the Pampanga Integrated Disaster and Risk Resiliency Project and the Bulacan Angat Water Transmission Project that are funded through a loan from Korea Eximbank, with government counterpart fund of P1.3 billion and P7.4 billion, respectively.

On the other hand, flood control programs of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) was given an allocation of P1.9 billion in 2023; and, the proposed budget for 2024 is P1.3 billion, she said.

Pangandaman also mentioned that there is a total of P543.45 billion earmarked for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Projects and Programs of the national government under the Climate Change Expenditures Tagging (CCET).

“This is equivalent to 9.4 percent of the total proposed budget, exceeding our commitment of only 8 percent share under the Philippine Development Plan,” Pangandaman explained, adding that most of these are water-related projects.

These include projects on water sufficiency with an allocation of P294.46 billion; sustainable energy, P180.72 billion; Climate Smart Industries and Services, P6.02 billion; ecosystem and environmental sustainability, P5.95 billion; knowledge and capacity development, P12.97 billion; food security, P40.18 billion; human security, P2.58 billion; and, cross-cutting actions, P550 million.

Another P1.7 billion under the Philippines Space Agency (PSA) is being proposed to better monitor land and marine resources, as well as terrestrial ecosystems, Pangandaman said, adding that P1.2 billion will be used for multi-sectoral unit land assessment satellite development. Presidential News Desk