DPWH may face up to P348B in budget cuts amid red flags
Metro Manila, Philippines - The controversial Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) may lose up to P348 billion from its 2026 budget, as senators question numerous items in the proposal already trimmed by the new leadership.
“Hindi pa naman final ‘yan. Pero ‘yan ‘yung mga estimates namin sa ngayon,” Senate finance committee chairman Sen. Win Gatchalian said in a chance interview with reporters on Monday, Oct. 20.
The revised DPWH budget, as approved by the House of Representatives, stood at P625.78 billion. If the full cut is implemented, the agency would be left with just around P277 billion for 2026.
Red flags
During a Senate hearing, Gatchalian raised concerns over more than 6,000 projects worth P271.9 billion. These include:
+ road projects without station numbers, making them difficult to locate and verify;
+ 40 duplicate projects, leading to double funding;
+ 42 projects split into multiple phases, which could obscure accountability and inflate costs;
+ and over 900 recurring projects worth P14 billion, which were funded and supposed to be completed this year.
“We have to give credit to DPWH. Nakita naming yung duplicate projects ay 40 items. Noong una libo ‘yan,” he said.
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said he has ordered the identification of station numbers and promised to remove duplicated and multi-phased items.
He also promised to defund recurring projects subject to validation.
“Pero ang isang sinabi sa ‘kin ngayon baka yung project na nandyan kaya siya nagrecur kasi hindi pa siya complete. But again kailangan po yan ivalidate,” Dizon said.
[But I was told now that it is possible that recurring projects are those still incomplete.]
Overprice
On top of these, a proposed 20% across-the-board cut to all infrastructure projects has been proposed, amounting to over P70 billion in savings. This contributes to the potential P348-billion total reduction in the DPWH budget as identified by Gatchalian.
During the Senate hearing, Senator Loren Legarda pushed for an even steeper 25% to 30% cut, while Senator Bam Aquino supported the 20% proposal.
Dizon acknowledged that some projects were overpriced by more than 30%. However, he urged lawmakers to await the results of the department’s regional assessment to determine the actual amount of overpricing instead of a blanket reduction.
The Senate committee on finance deferred the approval of the DPWH budget after almost eight hours of hearing as Gatchalian cited the need to address red flags. Another hearing is set for Monday, Oct. 27.
