Baguio to get P16 billion infra projects in 2026 budget
More than P1.6 billion will be earmarked by the public works department for various horizontal and vertical projects in the city under the approved House version of the P6.79 trillion national budget next year.
Rep. Mauricio G. Domogan said that more than P1.047 billion will be allocated for various horizontal projects while more than P371 million will be used for the put up of several school buildings in the city by next year once the same will not be amended in the Senate.
Further, he claimed that his office was able to work out that the P150 million that was earlier earmarked for flood-related projects in the city will instead be used for various vertical projects in the different parts of the city so that the funds will not be diverted to other projects outside the city.
Domogan pointed out that the decision to divert the funds allocated for flood-related projects to important vertical projects such as school buildings is aligned with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to scrap some P255 billion that had been programmed for flood control projects around the country under the proposed 2026 annual budget.
According to him, part of his job as a lawmaker is to see to it that Baguio will be able to get its equitable share from the government’s limited resources being allocated for priority development projects around the country.
However, he stipulated that the list of the funded projects cannot yet be released because the approved House version of the annual budget is still being deliberated in the Senate and will undergo the bicameral conference committee in the coming weeks to synchronize conflicting provisions before being transmitted to the Office of the President for signature to enact the 2026 annual budget.
The lawmaker pointed out that the final list of approved projects will only be available after the President has signed the annual budget approved in both chambers of Congress into law.
The President targets to sign the approved annual budget for 2026 before the end of the year to avoid the implementation of a re-enacted budget. – Dexter A. See
