Davao City 3rd District Rep. Isidro Ungab blasted what he described as the “butchering” of the 2024 and 2025 national budgets by the House of Representatives.
During deliberations on the 2026 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Ungab revealed that major flood control projects funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA) were slashed in previous budgets.
He pointed out that ODA-funded projects are “big ticket” undertakings vital to infrastructure development.
“Pag sinabing big ticket, malalaki ito. These are the kumbaga, mga superhighway, dito dadaloy yung mga maliliit, so what happened to the ODA projects? It’s very simple, tingnan nyo lang, nawala yung big ticket projects at nagsusulputan na parang kabute yung mga maliliit na projects, makita nyo yan sa budget,” Ungab said.
The lawmaker went further, calling members of the House the “chop-chop gang” for carving up funds from ODA allocations for flood control.
Ungab insisted that the cuts were already made at the level of the House of Representatives.
“Pagdating sa GAA (General Appropriations Act), this is now the product of the Senate and the House of Representatives atsaka sa BiCam (Bicameral Conference Committee), zero, kinatay yung buong ODA, nakakahiya sa ating mga foreign creditors,” he said.