Infrastructure outlay for 2025 still biased for road networks – think tank

MANILA, Philippines —  Infrastructure outlay for next year remains biased for road networks, which could worsen the already severe traffic congestion in the capital and other major cities due to more road repairs and construction.

Based on the latest budget report of the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) of the House of Representatives, a heavy bias on road networks will linger for 2025, as it has been the case the past 10 years.

Under the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP), infrastructure budget stood at P1.507 trillion, slightly lower than this year’s allocation of P1.51 trillion.

Of the amount, almost 65 percent or P977.83 billion will be spent on hard infrastructure including road networks, flood control and railway systems.

“A peek into the distribution of the infrastructure outlays from 2016 to 2025 shows that there is bias in favor of road networks, which account for 36 percent of the entire public infrastructure outlay, on average, in the last 10 years,” CPBRD said.

This is significantly higher than the budget share for railways at 3.5 percent, airports at 0.8 percent and seaports at 0.2 percent.

“Experts have long argued that the country’s transport system, which is car-centric rather than a mass-oriented one, created more demand for cars and private vehicles. This has exacerbated the traffic congestion problem in urban areas especially in Metro Manila,” the think tank said.

Based on the NEP, P472.77 billion is proposed for road networks next year. This is 31.4 percent of the total, but is 8.8 percent lower than the 2024 level of P518.58 billion.

Infrastructure for flood control systems will receive P299.75 billion, down almost 15 percent, while railway systems could get P103.28 billion, a huge jump from this year’s measly P1.5 billion.

CPBRD emphasized that the poor state of infrastructure is evidenced by the chronic congestion problem in key transport facilities in the country.

In fact, Metro Manila recorded the worst traffic congestion last year among metro areas globally.

Out of 387 cities in 55 countries, Metro Manila registered the longest average travel time to traverse a 10-kilometer route, at 25 minutes and 30 seconds.

“A huge factor explaining the worsening traffic congestion in Metro Manila is the growing volume of motor vehicles traversing major thoroughfares,” CPBRD said.

The CPBRD suggested that the government must ensure greater efficiency in spending scarce public funds on strategic infrastructure that catalyzes growth and productivity.

It noted that recalibrating the government’s infrastructure development strategies could be done by tightening the screening process for infrastructure projects to be funded in the national budget.

“The proliferation especially of small, localized infrastructure projects spreads resources thinly and reduces funding for big-ticket physical connectivity projects such as rail transport systems, airports and ports – infrastructure projects that promote economies of scale, enhance greater productivity and yield highest return to investments,” the think tank said.

CPBRD also called for the revitalization of the country’s rail transport system, noting that it holds the key to overcoming the perennial transport challenges in the country