DPWH budget may be cut by P348 billion more, says Win Gatchalian

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday said that as much as P348 billion may again be cut from the proposed budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways in 2026, which has already been reduced to P625.75 billion from the initially proposed P881.31 billion.

Gatchalian, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, made the remark after the committee heard the DPWH's proposed allocation for next year.

During the hearing, Gatchalian disclosed the committee findings that over 6,000 projects worth more than P271 billion suffered from "red flags" such as:

• having no station number;
• being duplicate projects;
• have multiple phases; or
• being reappearing projects from the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP). 

The Senate Committee on Finance suspended the deliberations on the DPWH’s proposed 2026 budget until Monday, October 27. 

“Ang pwedeng potential tanggalin is P348 billion… Kasi ‘yung red flags is already P271 [billion], tapos ‘yung overpricing na 20% across-the-board sa kalye, it's another P70 [billion] something eh. So more or less mga P340 [billion] something,” Gatchalian said. 

(The amount that can be potentially removed is P348 billion... Because the red flags are already P271, then the overpricing of 20% across-the-board on the roads, it's another P70 [billion] something. So, more or less about P340 billion.) 

“Hindi pa naman final ‘yan. But ‘yan ‘yung mga estimates namin sa ngayon. So kung ang budget nila is about P600 [billion] plus, tanggalin mo ng P340 [billion] plus. So mga P350 [billion] ang matitira,” he added. 

(That's not final yet. But those are our estimates for now. So if their budget is about P600 billion plus, and we remove P340 billion plus, there will be about P350 billion left.) 

The DPWH initially proposed an P881.31 billion budget under the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP), but this was reduced to P625.78 billion after the removal of locally funded flood control projects amid the revelations of substandard or ghost projects. 

During the budget deliberations, Gatchalian revealed a P271 billion worth of questionable infrastructure projects under the DPWH’s proposed 2026 budget. 

Among the so-called “red flags” were the 4,566 projects amounting to P201.27 billion that have no station numbers, and 40 duplicating projects worth P1.09 billion. 

There were also 42 projects amounting to P2.69 billion that have multiple phases, and 946 projects worth P14.45 billion that reappeared from the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to the 2026 NEP. 

Gatchalian also flagged a supposed overcosting of more than a thousand percent in some DPWH projects under its 2026 budget. 

The senator has asked DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon to submit by next Monday documents that would justify or explain the findings that were disclosed. 

“Kung mari-realize ‘yan, ‘yung P348 [billion], ‘yan ang panglalagay namin sa kapalit ng unprogrammed. Kasi ang unprogrammed is about P200 or P260 [billion] something. So ‘yan ang ilalagay namin sa unprogrammed. So in other words, hindi mo na kailangan ng unprogrammed,” Gatchalian explained. 

(If the P348 billion is realized, that’s what we will put as a replacement for the unprogrammed. Because the unprogrammed is about P200 or P260 billion, something. So that is what we will put in the unprogrammed. So in other words, you don't need the unprogrammed.) 

Gatchalian has been pushing for the scrapping of all unprogrammed funds in the national budget. –NB, GMA Integrated News