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MANILA, Philippines — Despite past anomalies, funding for flood control and shoreline protection projects should be restored in the 2027 national budget — but with strict safeguards, House Deputy Speaker Janette Garin said in an online media conference on Monday.
She acknowledged that controversies involving questionable or substandard projects had shaken public confidence in the entire flood-control program, including legitimate infrastructure needed by vulnerable communities.
“You know, flood control projects have been demonized,” Garin said in Filipino, she said in reply to questions about funding for such infrastructure projects being returned in the proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP) that is expected to be transmitted soon to Congress for deliberation.
But she stressed that such projects would really be needed in high-risk areas, citing her district in Iloilo, a coastal area, where shoreline protection would shield communities from high tides and overflowing rivers.
