Manila, Sept. 9 -- The PHP225 billion in funds originally allotted for locally funded flood control projects in the proposed 2026 budget will instead be redirected to education, health, and other pressing needs, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said Tuesday.

"'Yung locally funded kung tawagin na project (The locally funded project) that amounts to about 225 billion, we will reappropriate it to education, to health, and other departments that are in need of this funding," Marcos told reporters in Cambodia.

The President explained that the 2025 flood control budget of PHP350 billion has been delayed by ongoing investigations, making the 2026 allocation unnecessary. Foreign-assisted flood projects worth around PHP50 billion will continue....