ANG Kamara de Representantes, sa ilalim ng pamumuno ni Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez ay nangako na maglalaan ng sapat na pondo upang mapalakas ang mga ahensya na nangangalaga sa West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Sinabi ni House Majority Leader at Zamboanga City Rep. Manuel Jose “Mannix” M. Dalipe na nananatili ang pangako ng Kamara na susuportahan ang modernisasyon ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

Ayon kay Dalipe palaging sinusuportahan ng Kamara ang mga modernization program na nakasaad sa National Expenditure Program (NEP) na isinusumite ng Executive department.

“The [House] has always been supportive to all these modernization programs whether it is for the AFP, for the PCG every time that the [NEP] is presented to us by the executive department,” ani Dalipe.

“When the House members see that there is really a need to support these modernization programs…we not just support the programs but we even add to what we see during the budget deliberations that are lacking when they presented the NEP,” pagpapatuloy nito.

“So kung titingnan po natin iyong output ng [House] when we passed the General Appropriations Bill, hindi lang po iyong mga original proposal na binigay ng AFP, DND (Department of National Defense) or PCG sa pagbili ng mga assets nila dinadagdagan pa po ng [House] iyon para makatulong po tayo sa PCG, makatulong tayo sa AFP, makatulong tayo sa ating PNP (Philippine National Police) and all of these agencies that are tasked to help us protect the Philippines, protect our sovereignty,” dagdag pa ni Dalipe.

Sa paglapit ng budget season, tiniyak ni Dalipe na muling susuportahan ng Kamara ang pondo para sa mga ahensya gaya ng PCG at Philippine Navy.

“I think we would really want to look into the 2025 budget proposal of [PCG] and the other agencies because we also would want you to help more especially in defending our territory, in defending our sovereignty and most especially in defending our fishermen who have fishing rights in this area,” wika pa ni Dalipe.

“Rest assured na ito pong pagdating ng budget season ngayong August, September, ang House of Representative po, as always and as expected, will be in full support to the [PCG], to the Philippine Navy or ano pang agency that are tasked to help protect our sovereignty,” saad pa ni Dalipe.

Inaasahan na isusumite ng Department of Budget and Management (DBM) ang 2025 NEP sa Kongreso matapos ang ikatlong State of the Nation Address (SONA) ni Pangulong Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. sa Hulyo 22.

Ito ang opisyal na hudyat ng budget season sa Kongreso kung saan hinihimay ng mga mambabatas ang mga nais na pagkagastusan ng gobyerno sa susunod na taon upang matiyak na nagagamit ng tama ang pondo ng bayan.