The highest increase based on the proposed 2023 budget went to the Department of Transportation, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said on Friday.

This was mentioned by Pangandaman during the briefing for the proposed 2023 budget at the House of Representatives.

"As you can see, the highest budget increase went to transportation with 147.7 percent increase and to agriculture with 42.7 percent increase," she said.

Based on the data from the DBM, the budget of the health department will increase to 12.4 percent, followed by the defense department with 11 percent increase and education with 8.2 percent increase.

Pangandaman said majority of the budget for the DOTr will be alloted for rail transport projects.

"The DOTr will be provided with 167.12 billion (pesos) for the establishment of an efficient and reliable mass public transportation system, the rail transport program will receive the chunk of this budget at 113.99 billion pesos to implement the ongoing rail project such as the North to South Commuter Railway System with 75.11 billion (pesos)," she said.

Other projects also funded under the DOTr include the maritime infrastructure program worth P860 million, aviation infrastructure program worth P2.49 billion and public transportation program of P4.72 billion.

"In addition, here are the other flagship projects under the DOTr land public transportation program and their respective budget namely EDSA Greenways project (worth 780 million pesos), Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (700 million pesos), and EDSA Busway Project (210 million pesos)," she added. Robina Asido/DMS