DPWH eyes submitting 'clean' 2026 budget to House by September 15

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said Friday it would submit the revised version of its proposed 2026 budget to the House of Representatives by September 15, Monday, after a review addressing supposed erroneous entries.

"Sa Lunes, magsusumite na tayo. Tingin ko kahit na limited ang oras, pipilitin po natin," DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon told GMA Integrated News' Unang Balita in an interview.

(We will submit on Monday. Even though time is limited, I think we will make it happen.)

According to Dizon, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman helped in the review of the Public Works department's 2026 proposed budget.

"Sa tulong ni Secretary Mina, tingin ko magagawa natin ang trabaho natin by Monday. Napakadami nito, napakahaba pero pipilitin po natin kung anong magagawa natin para talagang malinis natin itong budget na ito," he said.

(With the help of Secretary Mina, I think we can do our job by Monday. It's a lot, it's very long, but we will do what we can to clean up the agency's budget.)

Asked if he can assure the public that this version of the proposed budget is cleaner, Dizon said many items will be removed.

"Definitely po, marami po tayong tatanggalin. Marami po tayong hindi isasama ayon na rin sa utos ng Pangulo," he said.

(Definitely, we will remove many items. We will exclude many items in accordance with the President's order.)

Amid the public outcry over alleged irregularities in flood control projects, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. tasked the DBM and DPWH to conduct a sweeping review of the latter's proposed budget under the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

Marcos said he instructed Dizon to conduct a full review to "make the necessary corrections" as Filipinos' "money should be used properly."

In a letter dated September 9 to Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and House appropriations panel chairperson Mikaela Suansing, Dizon asked to extend the deadline for the submission of the agency's revised proposed 2026 budget from September 12, Friday, to September 15, Monday. 

The appropriations panel approved the request, while also rescheduling the DPWH budget hearing from September 16, Tuesday, to September 17, Wednesday.

House Deputy Speaker and Antipolo Rep. Ronaldo Puno earlier flagged hundreds of millions of pesos worth of multi-year infrastructure projects, including flood control projects, which were unfunded under the original P880-billion proposed DPWH budget.

Aside from these, Puno had said completed projects remained funded under this submission. — VDV, GMA Integrated News