House pushes thousands more multi-purpose buildings. Are they really needed?

LOWER CHAMBER. The House of Representatives Session Hall.

House of Representatives' Facebook page

House appropriations panel senior vice chairperson Albert Garcia says multi-purpose buildings can be use for Zumba, basketball games, and even evacuation centers

AT A GLANCE

• The House of Representatives has approved an additional P42.7 billion for multi-purpose buildings in the proposed 2027 national budget, raising the total allocation to P83.7 billion.
• Lawmakers argue that the funding is necessary to meet the needs of the country's 42,000 barangays, with multi-purpose buildings serving various community functions.

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How many multi-purpose buildings does the country need?

For members of the House of Representatives, apparently, thousands more.

In the House-approved version of the proposed 2027 national budget, lawmakers inserted an additional P42.7 billion for multi-purpose buildings.

That brings the allocation from the P41 billion proposed by the Marcos administration to P83.7 billion — more than double the proposal! The sum is enough to fund an estimated 5,765 buildings.

A lot, right?

For congressmen, not quite.

House appropriations committee senior vice chairperson Albert Garcia and other lawmakers defended the allocation, arguing that the country has tens of thousands of barangays that need such facilities.

“How many barangays do we have? 42,000 barangays. That’s a mere 10% (referring to the allocation for multi-purpose buildings) of the need of barangays across the nation,” Garcia said.

Lawmakers also claimed that requests from local government units for multi-purpose buildings continue to pour into their offices.

So, what exactly do barangays need all these buildings for?

Garcia said multi-purpose buildings can serve several purposes, from covered courts and daycare centers to classrooms and venues for community meetings.

“Alam ‘nyo po sa mga probinsiya at barangay na nasa labas ng Metro Manila, napakaimportante po nitong multi-purpose building,” Garcia said. (In provinces and barangays outside Metro Manila, multi-purpose buildings are very important.)

An analysis by People’s Budget Coalition (PBC) and BetterGovPH, however, showed that most of the allocation in the previous years for multi-purpose buildings were in Metro Manila.

He cited covered courts as an example, saying these can host Zumba sessions, barangay consultations, and basketball games for young people.

“Halimbawa, covered court. Diyan po nag-Zu-Zumba ’yung ating mga kababayan sa barangay na ’yun for healthy lifestyle. Diyan po nagme-meeting si kapitan para konsultahin ang kanyang mga ka-barangay. Diyan po nagba-basketball tuwing hapon ’yung ating mga kabataan para umiwas sa droga, para maging mas malusog kaysa puro gadgets na lang ginagawa ng ating mga kabataan,” he said.

(For example, a covered court. That’s where our constituents in the barangay hold Zumba sessions to promote a healthy lifestyle. It’s where the barangay captain holds meetings to consult with residents. It’s also where young people play basketball every afternoon to keep them away from drugs and encourage them to stay healthy, rather than spend all their time on gadgets.)

But not everyone is convinced that the billions in additional funding are adequately justified.

PBC and BetterGovPH flagged the multi-purpose building insertions, saying publicly available supporting documents were lacking to establish the need for these projects.

Fuentebella, however, defended the insertions, insisting they went through the proper process.

“Lahat po nito nanggaling sa request nila. Hindi lang po sa kagustuhan ng mga kongresista. So it’s a bottom-up budgeting ang ginagawa natin,” Fuentebella said. (All of these came from requests made by the communities themselves, not simply from the congressmen’s own preferences. So what we are practicing is bottom-up budgeting.)

He said that there are documents to support these projects, but these have yet to be seen by the public.

This isn’t the first time Congress has substantially increased funding for these projects.

In 2026, lawmakers more than doubled the P29.7 billion allocation proposed in the National Expenditure Program, raising it to P79.9 billion.

Budget analysis of PBC and BetterGovPH also showed that the government has allocated P739.6 billion for 79,970 multi-purpose building projects from 2015 to 2026.

Perhaps, they want more multi-purpose buildings to put their names or initials? – Rappler.com