DPWH cuts 2026 budget by P255B

THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) slashed around P255 billion worth of locally funded flood control projects from its proposed 2026 budget.

We are revising the agency’s budget for 2026. We have removed complicated projects, overlapping projects that are still receiving funding or that have been allocated funding for 2026,” Public Works and Highways Secretary Vivencio “Vince” B. Dizon told the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday

He said the DPWH had reviewed the initial proposal and removed P255.53 billion worth of duplicate or completed projects in next year’s budget.

The DPWH’s proposed budget for 2026 has now been reduced to P625.78 billion, 28.9% lower than the original proposal of P881.31 billion.

Mr. Dizon said the allocation for 2026 is the DPWH’s lowest since 2023 when it had a budget of P718.35 billion.

“We have exerted our best efforts, within the very limited period allotted, to ensure that the issues raised in the previously submitted budget, such as the funding of completed and duplicate projects, are adequately addressed,” he said, adding that P15.77 billion worth of foreign-assisted flood control projects were retained for next year.

Of the P625.78-billion proposed budget for next year, P482.32 billion was allocated for road projects, while P15.77 billion was allotted for foreign-assisted flood control projects such as payments to multilateral agencies like Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency. It allocated P94.16 billion for other items.

The reduction of DPWH’s budget is in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s directive last week that the agency must conduct a “sweeping review” of its 2026 proposed budget following alleged anomalies in flood control projects.

“We would also like to convey the President’s recommendations to Congress that the fiscal space made available by the reduction of P255 billion, be instead allocated to programs and projects in agriculture, education, healthcare, housing, labor, social welfare and information technology,” Mr. Dizon said.

The DPWH chief said the agency is still reviewing flood control projects and reports. He said three more cases related to these anomalous projects will be filed soon.

The DPWH has submitted a list of over 9,000 projects completed between July 2022 and May 2025. Of these, 160 projects have undergone validation, with 15 reported as missing or unlocated.

On Tuesday, the DPWH also lifted the two-week suspension of auctions for locally funded projects, citing the need to fast-track the rollout of key infrastructure.

‘SMALL AMOUNT’
Meanwhile, Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said the proposed P255-billion cut in locally funded flood control projects in the DPWH’s 2026 budget is unlikely to dampen economic growth and infrastructure spending next year.

“The P200 billion? That’s just a small amount. Our infrastructure budget is more than a trillion, right? It’ll just be reduced a bit,” she told reporters on Wednesday.

“What’s important is that we still get to implement key projects like school buildings, hospitals, and infrastructure that supports our agriculture sector. Hopefully, everything continues smoothly.”

The Budget department had submitted to Congress a proposed P6.793-trillion National Expenditure Plan for 2026, which is 7.4% higher than this year’s national budget and equivalent to 22% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The government has set a target for public infrastructure spending of 5%-6% of GDP annually.

Ms. Pangandaman said all legitimate obligations to government contractors will not be affected.

“I think (Mr. Dizon) is reviewing all existing contracts. Some were halted, but it’s part of the cleansing and review process,” she said. “For those that are clean and properly implemented, they should continue.”

Nigel Paul C. Villarete, senior adviser on PPP (public-private partnership) at the technical advisory group Libra Konsult, Inc. said that there should also be a thorough review of the DPWH’s budget cut to really ensure that the rollout of the needed infrastructure projects will not be affected.

“I believe there has to be a deeper move on this issue. Flooding is real and is disastrous to many places and many communities of our country. True, the acts of corruption in these flood-control projects are real and detrimental to our country and people, but we can’t solve the problem simply by just eliminating flood control,” Mr. Villarete said. — Ashley Erika O. Jose and Aubrey Rose A. Inosante