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Philippine Lawmakers Linked to Top Officials Get Largest Infrastructure Funds
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates /Energy & Infrastructure

Philippine Lawmakers Linked to Top Officials Get Largest Infrastructure Funds

From Khaleej Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Documents & data Context piece
  • Legislators with close ties to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte received the largest shares of the nation's infrastructure budget.
  • Rep. Martin Romualdez, a cousin of Marcos, received more funds for his district than Rep. Paolo Duterte, brother of the Vice President, between 2023 and 2025.
  • An investigation suggests political influence, not infrastructure needs, dictates the allocation of public works funds, with lawmakers able to increase district budgets through 'insertions' during deliberations.

In the Philippines, political connections appear to be a direct route to significant public funding. An investigation into the nation's infrastructure budget reveals that legislators closely aligned with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte have secured the largest allocations for their districts.

Between 2023 and 2025, Rep. Martin Romualdez, a cousin of the president, saw his Leyte district receive P57 billion in infrastructure funds from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). This amount surpasses the P51 billion allocated to Rep. Paolo Duterte's Davao City district from 2020 to 2022, a period when his father, Rodrigo Duterte, was president. Former appropriations committee chair Elizaldy Co described the younger Duterte's previous allocation as historically the largest ever for a district.

the swings in DPWH indicate that political influence, rather than infrastructure needs, determine the allocations of public works funds.

— PCIJ reportThe Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism's findings on the Department of Public Works and Highways' budget allocations.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) report indicates that the swings in DPWH funding suggest political influence, rather than genuine infrastructure needs, drives these allocations. House of Representatives members play a key role, determining district allocations, with proximity to the highest elected officials often translating to a larger share of the budget.

Lawmakers can further influence these allocations through "insertions" during budget deliberations, increasing funds for specific districts. Romualdez, even before his removal as Speaker of the House in 2025, was instrumental in approving P31.395 billion for his district, which has a significantly smaller population than some other districts that received less funding. This disparity highlights how political power can supersede population-based needs in resource distribution.

budget insertions and reductions made by lawmakers during deliberations really tells a story of how Congress can influence the budget.

— AJ MontesaCo-convenor of the People’s Budget Coalition, commenting on the legislative process of budget allocation.
About this summary

Originally published by Khaleej Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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