The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is confident it can achieve optimal budget utilization by yearend as it registered a 65- percent disbursement rate in the first half of 2024.
“With better financial performance for the first half of 2024, we now ask the Congress to support our expenditure proposal for the fiscal year 2025,” DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said at the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations budget deliberations.
DOTr is requesting Congress for a P180.9- billion budget for 2025 from the P73.9 billion approved budget in 2024.
“The total proposed budget for DOTr and its attached agencies is P180.89 billion, 144.35 percent higher than our FY (fiscal year) 2024 GAA (General Appropriation Act)-levels. If we consider releases from FY 2024 Unprogrammed Appropriations for Loan Proceeds, this proposed level is only 55.5 percent higher than what we have in the current year,” Bautista said.
“If we compare it with FY2024 NEP (National Expenditure Program), this proposed budget is less P33.4 billion or a reduction of 15.6 percent.
This discrepancy is mainly on account of our flagship foreign-assisted infrastructure projects, which were included in the 2024 NEP but excluded in the 2024 GAA,” Bautista explained.
He said bulk or 74 percent of the proposed DOTr NEP for 2025 is for capital outlay to continue the big-ticket transport infrastructure projects.
DOTr has completed 53 airport development and improvement projects, including the privatization of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which will be turned over to New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. next month.
Other regional airports for modernization in the pipeline are Laguindingan Airport, Bohol-Panglao International Airport, Iloilo International Airport, Puerto Princesa International Airport and Kalibo International Airport.
DOTr has also completed 38 social and tourism port projects since 2022.
Other mega infrastructure projects in the pipeline are the New Cebu International Container Port and the Manila Bay-Pasig River-Laguna Lake Ferry River System Project.
Meanwhile, railway projects needing budget allocation include the Metro Manila Subway, North-South Commuter Railway, Metro Rail Transit (MRT) line 7, Light Rail Transit-1 Cavite Extension, Unified Grand Central Station and MRT-3 Rehabilitation.
Those in the pipeline are the Mindanao Railway Project, MRT-4 and Philippine National Railways South Long Haul.
Under the road sector, DOTr is pushing for the expansion of the active transport program and EDSA Busway Project.
The agency also continues to push for the Public Transport Modernization Program.
