Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 10) — A party-list lawmaker on Thursday questioned the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for failing to provide a list of projects under the Barangay Development Program (BDP) – the flagship program of the government’s anti-insurgency task force.
According to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, the BDP aims to rehabilitate and develop – through farm-to-market roads, schools, health centers, and livelihood projects, among others – 822 barangays formerly established as guerilla fronts of the communist group.
\”What we have is the list of beneficiaries per region, province, city, municipality, and barangay. But we don’t have the list of the specific projects on hand,\” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman told Kabataan Party-list Raoul Manuel during budget deliberations at the House of Representatives.
But aside from the list, Manuel also flagged the BDP’s \”lump sum\” projects.
\”Questionable na nga ‘yong listahan ng barangay na beneficiaries, tapos wala ring ma-ipresent na breakdown… kaya natin natatawag na generals’ pork itong BDP kasi several years na na ganito ‘yong nangyayari,\” Manuel said.
[Translation: The list of barangay beneficiaries itself is already questionable, then no breakdown has been presented… that’s why we call this BDP the generals’ pork because this has been going on for several years now.]
Asked on the completion rate status of the BDP for 2022, Pangandaman said 69% of the projects were marked as complete. This is equivalent to ₱3.6 billion of the ₱5.6 billion appropriated funds of the DBP.
For 2023, the secretary said the 1,254 endorsed projects of the DBP, which is equivalent to an appropriation of ₱6.3 billion, are still in various stages of procurement.
