00:00The impact of failed and phantom flood control projects can be seen through the perspective of loss, productivity, and potential jobs created and revenues they could have generated.
00:10Still, the country's economic managers are rosy on the country's GDP growth.
00:14If foreign and domestic debt are well-managed and funds for government programs are spent wisely, as our Harley Valbuena reports.
00:20This was the data presented by the Department of Finance.
00:50In a Senate hearing earlier today on the large economic impact of the anomalous flood control projects, due to the wasted billions of pesos, a lot of Filipinos are now having doubts in paying their taxes, saying that this might just be used to sustain the luxurious lives of the families of corrupt politicians and contractors.
01:15This is why the DOF assured there will be no ghost projects under the 2026 National Expenditure Program and the spending of state funds will be carefully monitored in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
01:31The people are also entitled to the receivable of government projects financed by the taxes they paid.
01:39People are naturally resistant to taxes, but their tax obedience can be won if they will see how the taxes they paid are spent for the right things at the right price by the right agency at the right time.
01:54According to DOF, in the proposed 6.793 trillion pesos 2026 national budget, around 5 trillion pesos will be funded by revenues, while 1.6 trillion pesos will be sourced from loans.
02:10As of June 2025, the national debt reached 17.27 trillion pesos, but Secretary Recto explained that debt will remain manageable as long as the growth of the economy will be faster compared to the growth of debt.
02:27Meanwhile, Senators also questioned the outdated food poor threshold of the Department of Economy, Planning and Development or Dep-Dev, where it states 13,873 pesos income per month is enough to sustain the basic needs of a family of five.
02:44For 162 pesos, ang budget nila sa pagkain. Sa mga PID, ang anggahan nila is worth 154 pesos, ang lands is worth 154 pesos, ganun din ang dinner. Is this realistic?
02:59I should think ang target natin o ang baseline natin should be a decent standard of living. Opo, na hindi lang peg sa kung ano yung minimum wage ngayon or what.
03:09Dep-Dev, Secretary Arsenio Balisacan explained that the poverty threshold was formulated way back 2023 and they will update it based on the current inflation trend and changes in the cost of living.
03:24Harley Valbena from the National TV Network for a new and better Philippines.
