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Multiplier effect of infrastructure projects: Sen. Sonny Angara, chairperson of the Committee on Finance, cites the positive impacts of infrastructure spending on Philippine economy which, he believes, are the reasons why the Duterte administration continues to prioritize infrastructure development. In defending the Department of Public Works and Highways' (DPWH) P665.53-billion proposed budget for 2022 during the hybrid plenary session Tuesday, November 23, 2021, Angara noted the "high" obligation rate of the DPWH in the last five years. Angara said the government expects to spend more than 5 percent of the country's gross domestic product on infrastructure by 2022. "What matters is the disbursement rate. No matter how much we in Congress here appropriate, no matter how much the department is able to obligate in the course of the year, what matters is, really, what comes, flows out of the public treasury and this goes to the various localities and creates jobs in the form of bridges, construction jobs, etcetera. That is what matters," Angara pointed out. (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)