Senate panel further trims DPWH 2026 budget to P568 billion

The Senate committee on finance has further slashed the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to P568.56 billion from P624.48 billion under the House-approved General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the finance committee, announced this during Wednesday’s plenary session as he formally sponsored House Bill No. 4058 or the General Appropriations Act of 2026.

Gatchalian said that the committee’s proposed budget cut for DPWH amounted to P55.91 billion. 

To recall, DPWH initially proposed a 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 hearings, we discovered several red flags such as roads with no station IDs, duplicate projects, projects in multiple phases, and reappearing projects from previous years’ budget. The President [also] recently ordered that the DPWH lower material cost for infrastructure projects,” Gatchalian explained. 

“The goal of reduction is not only to help comply with that directive, but also to ensure efficiency and more responsible spending,” he added. 

As an additional safeguard against corruption, Gatchalian noted that all DPWH projects now have station numbers, bridge IDs, and school IDs included in the committee report.

Education

On October 13, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading its version of the proposed P6.793 trillion national budget for 2026 under House Bill 4058, with realignments that increased allocations to the education sector to an unprecedented P1.28 trillion.

Gatchalian said that the education sector is expected to get the biggest chunk, or 20% of the 2026 budget, amounting to P1.38 trillion. 

“This is 20% of the national budget, or 4.5% of GDP.4 It is the highest in our country’s history,” he said. 

The 1987 Constitution indicates that the State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to the education sector.

Unprogrammed funds

Gatchalian also said that the Senate panel has significantly reduced unprogrammed funds under the proposed 2026 national budget. 

The Senate version, he said, trimmed down the House GAB’s allocation of P243 billion to P174.5 billion. This translated to a reduction of more than P68.5 billion. 

“Of the 11 line items in unprogrammed funds, the Senate version reduced them to seven, with only three cash items,” Gatchalian said. 

“During the budget hearings, one of our most painful discoveries was that unprogrammed funds had turned into a magnet for corruption. In 2023, the total amount for flood control projects that was sourced from unprogrammed funds stood at 25.25 billion. In 2024, the amount increased to 85.78 billion,” he explained.

In total, Gatchalian noted that the total proposed national budget for 2026 stands at P6.793 trillion, higher by 7.4% than last year’s budget or about P467 billion more. 

The Senate finance committee chairman cited several steps that the upper chamber has undertaken to make the budget process more transparent and restore the public’s trust in the government.

One of these initiatives is Senate Concurrent Resolution Number 4, which mandates that all vital budgetary documents from both the House of Representatives and the Senate be uploaded online. 

He noted that the Senate Budget Transparency Portal was also launched in order for people to watch the livestreams of the budget briefings and hearings, and check the NEP and the House GAB online. 

“The national budget is more than a purse. It is the single most important reflection of the nation’s priorities. And these priorities must always embody the aspirations of our people,” Gatchalian said. 

“We are determined to restore what has been lost – leadership, accountability, and transparency. The first step towards rebuilding the trust of our people is showing them through specific and concrete actions, that their hard-earned money will be used responsibly, and that they know exactly where it is going,” he added. —LDF, GMA Integrated News