Dizon OK with further DPWH budget cuts: ‘Para masiguro na hindi mananakaw’

Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon on Tuesday said he is all right with the 2026 budget of the DPWH potentially getting trimmed down further in a bid to curb corruption in the agency. 

This, as Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday said that as much as P348 billion may again be cut from the proposed budget of the DPWH in 2026, after he disclosed 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). 

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

“Hindi po ako papayag, kahit ako mismo, hindi ako papayag na may ganyang klaseng proyekto sa budget ng DPWH. So kahit na bumaba pa ng kung ilang porsyento ang budget ng DPWH, okay lang po sa akin ‘yan para lan po masigurado natin o ma-minimize natin to the full extent ‘yung pwedeng opportunity para sa pagnanakaw,” Dizon said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview. 

(I myself will not allow those kinds of projects under the DPWH budget. So even if the DPWH budget decreases, that's okay with me as long as we ensure or minimize to the full extent the potential opportunity for corruption.) 

The Senate committee on finance suspended the deliberations on the DPWH’s proposed 2026 budget until next Monday, October 27. Gatchalian has given Dizon a week to submit documents that would justify or explain the findings that were disclosed. 

According to the DPWH chief, they will validate all the projects found to have “red flags” and will finish the review on lowering the cost of infrastructure materials within the one-week period. 

“Kailangan nating isa-isahin 'yan. Ngayon, kung hindi 'yan ma-validate ng mga district engineers, automatic ipapatanggal na lang natin 'yan, para makasiguro tayo na walang opportunity na magnakaw,” Dizon added. 

(We need to check those individually. Now, if the district engineers cannot validate that, we will automatically remove it, so that we can ensure that there will be no opportunity to steal.) 

To recall, the DPWH initially proposed an P881.31 billion budget under the 2026 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. —AOL, GMA Integrated News