DPWH defends bid to restore budget: Lower material costs, no projects to bring back

Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon on Sunday defended the DPWH's bid to restore cuts to its 2026 budget, telling skeptical lawmakers that he understood why the department lost the public's trust after massive corruption in connection with ghost or substandard flood control projects was revealed.

Dizon told the bicameral conference committee on Sunday that he agency is not requesting the restoration of infrastructure projects that were removed from the proposed 2026 budget, and that the cost of project materials will decrease.

He made the clarification after the DPWH sought to restore funds that were deducted from its budget proposal due to reductions based on the Construction Materials Price Data (CMPD).

“Unang-una, hindi po totoo na ibinabalik na po ng DPWH yung dating presyo. Hindi po totoo ‘yun…Ang presyo na ibinababa natin ay hindi ibabalik sa lumang mas mataas na presyo. At sa tingin ko po, sa reporma ng Pangulo, hindi na ito maibabalik in the future,” the DPWH chief said during the bicameral deliberations on the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.

(First and foremost, it is not true that the DPWH is restoring the old prices. That is not true… The price that we are bringing down will not be restored to the old, higher price. And I believe, with the President’s reform, this will not be restored in the future.)

“Ikalawa, wala pong ibang project na ipinapabalik ang DPWH. Wala po. Whether flood control project o kahit anong project. Wala pong laman yung ating kasulatan kay Senator Win Gatchalian at sa House contingent, na nagsasabi na ipinapabalik natin ang iba’t-ibang mga proyekto. Wala tayong pinapabalik na kahit anong proyektong tinanggal whether ayan ay flood control, tulay, kalye, multi-purpose building,” he added. 

(Second, the DPWH is not requesting the restoration of any other project. None at all. Whether it's a flood control project or any other project. There is nothing in our written communication to Senator Win Gatchalian and the House contingent that says we are bringing back various projects. We are not bringing back any project that was removed, whether it be flood control, bridge, road, [or] multi-purpose building.)

The Senate earlier slashed the DPWH’s proposed 2026 budget to P570.48 billion from P624.48 billion in the House of Representatives’ version.

But the DPWH said in an earlier statement that its motion for reconsideration before the Senate was “made to ensure that the detailed process of applying the new CMPD will be followed."

This is supposedly to "avoid inaccurate costing and potential project unimplementability, which may lead to underspending and related legal and administrative issues.”

For his part, Dizon said that it’s important to keep the economy running by implementing several infrastructure projects.

“Ang hinihiling lang po natin is yung binawas na P45 billion approximately, ibalik po ulit para ma-implement po ito nang tama,” he said. “While it is true that the President told me and instructed me to bring down the prices of materials in order to eliminate overpricing, he also is very conscious of our desperate need to ramp up our infrastructure spending and our infrastructure implementation.” 

(What we are only asking for is the approximately P45 billion that was deducted, to be returned so that these [projects] can be properly implemented.)

“Our fear is that the cut made using our adjustment factors, across the board, across roughly 10,000 projects in the General Appropriations Bill may result inevitably in projects that will end up being unimplementable because of the way that they were applied to the various projects.” 

Loss of public trust

However, Dizon admitted that the DPWH has lost the public’s trust amid the anomalies in the flood control projects. 

“Naiintindihan ko po at naiintindihan din po ng Pangulo yung pagaalinlangan. DPWH has practically zero trust sa ating mga kababayan. At naiintindihan ko po na mukhang mahirap po kaming pagkatiwalaan…na baka iyan ay ibinalik sa versions ng HGAB at sasabihin na kami na lang gagawa ng pagbaba. Naiintindihan ko po na hindi kami pagkakatiwalaan na gagawin namin ito,” he said. 

(I understand, and the President also understands the hesitation. The DPWH practically has zero trust from our countrymen. And I understand that it seems difficult for us to be trusted... that maybe if it is restored to the versions of the HGAB and they say we will just do the reduction ourselves, I understand that we will not be trusted to do this.) 

With their request, the DPWH said that lawmakers can check their implementation. 

“Ayun po ang hinihiling namin sa inyo ngayon. And obviously, with Congress’s oversight function, anytime po pwede niyo kaming i-check kung ito po talaga ay ginagawa namin,” said Dizon. 

(That is what we are requesting from you now. And obviously, with Congress's oversight function, you can check on us anytime if we are truly doing this.) 

“At kung hindi namin binaba [ang cost ng project], ipatawag niyo po kami [...] It’s worth it to ensure that these projects are implemented with the right prices that we have already prescribed,” he added. 

(And if we did not lower [the cost of the project], summon us [...] It's worth it to ensure that these projects are implemented with the right prices that we have already prescribed.) 

Overpricing 

Meanwhile, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan was puzzled with the DPWH’s request to restore billions of pesos to its budget for next year. 

“Secretary Dizon, I hope you understand, based doon sa hearings and the transcripts are here, inamin mo na overpriced, nagkaroon ng exchange, bawasan natin yung taba. Sinabi mo, ‘yes, bawasan natin yung taba,’ dahil nga yung taba na yun yun yung overpriced. Pero ngayon babalik ka sa amin at sasabihing wag na bawasan yung taba?” he asked Dizon. 

(Secretary Dizon, I hope you understand, based on the hearings—and the transcripts are here—you admitted that it was overpriced; there was an exchange, let's cut the fat. You said, ‘yes, let's cut the fat,’ because that fat was the overpricing. But now you come back to us and say, ‘don't cut the fat anymore’?)

“Baka maaring bawasan pa rin natin, siguro mas maliit na halaga, pero bawasan pa rin natin dahil maliwanag na may taba,” Pangilinan added. 

(Perhaps we can still cut it, maybe a smaller amount, but we should still cut it because it's clear there is fat.)

In response, Dizon said: “Ika-clarify ko lang po. Ang presyo ng mga proyekto sa 2026 budget ay siguradong bababa base sa bagong cost ng materyales na pinasa ng DPWH….Sigurado pong bababa ‘yan. Ang tanong na lang diyan is sino ang magbababa? Ang Kongreso po ba? Ang Senado po ba? Or ang ehekutibo po ba?” he said. 

(I will just clarify. The price of the projects in the 2026 budget will surely decrease based on the new cost of materials passed by the DPWH…. That will surely decrease. The only question there is, who will make the reduction? Will it be Congress? Will it be the Senate? Or will it be the executive [branch]?)

'Kahit ako, nawalan ng tiwala'

Meanwhile, Senate Finance Committee chairperson Sherwin Gatchalian, who invited Dizon to the hearing, expressed his distrust in some district engineers following the involvement of some in the anomalies in the flood control projects. 

“Napakahirap po namin pagkatiwalaan po yung mga district engineering offices, to be honest about it. Hindi ko nilalahat, pero napakahirap pagkatiwalaan. At alam natin na itong mga project na ito, hindi ito dadaan sa inyo, diretsyo ito sa district engineering office,” he said. 

(It is very difficult for us to trust the district engineering offices, to be honest about it. I'm not generalizing, but it's very difficult to trust them. And we know that these projects, they will not pass through you, they will go directly to the district engineering office.) 

Gatchalian added that it’s important to ensure that there’s no overpricing with the materials for the projects. 

“Sang-ayon ako sa sinabi ni Senator Kiko, gusto rin namin ma-implement yung project. Ayaw namin mahinto ang ekonomiya natin…Pero ayaw din natin ng mga overpricing items sa loob ng budget,” he said. 

(I agree with what Senator Kiko said, we also want the projects to be implemented. We don't want our economy to stop… But we also don't want overpricing items within the budget.)

Dizon, on the other hand, said that he has also lost trust in district engineers. 

“Kahit po ako walang tiwala sa mga district engineer, actually, to be quite honest…Kaya nga po naglabas kami ng department order na mina-mandato namin sila na kahit ang pondo ay didiretsyo sa mga offices, kami po ay naglabas ng department order para masigurado na ibababa nila ang presyo. At hindi namin ia-approve ang kanilang pagpapa-bid kung hindi nila ibaba ang presyo,” he said. 

(Even I do not trust the district engineers, actually, to be quite honest…That’s why we released a department order that mandates them that even if the funds go directly to their offices, we still released a department order to ensure that they will bring down the prices. And we will not approve their bidding process if they do not lower the price.) 

Reforms 

Negros Occidental 3rd district Representative Javier Benitez asked Dizon if the DPWH can assure the Filipino people that present reforms can prevent the proliferation of corruption in the coming years. 

“So with this in place, do you think hindi na mauulit ang mga dati pong nangyari for the next year and the next years ahead?” he asked. 

(So with this in place, do you think what happened before will no longer be repeated for the next year and the next years ahead?)

For his part, Dizon said that the success of reforms won’t happen overnight. 

“So masisigurado ba natin na mawawala na kung maisagawa natin ang mga reporma with the support of the Congress? Mangyayari po ‘yan. Pero ito po ay proseso. This will not happen overnight. This is a process of reform, of change that needs to be relentless, that needs to be consistent."

(So can we ensure that it will be eliminated if we carry out the reforms with the support of Congress? That will happen. But this is a process. This will not happen overnight. This is a process of reform, of change that needs to be relentless, that needs to be consistent.)

Meanwhile, Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Representative Rufus Rodriguez questioned Dizon if there are plans to restore the flood control projects in 2026 this was after President Ferdinand Marcos previously said that funds cancelled for flood control projects in 2026 will be realigned to priority sectors. 

Dizon responded, “The President gave clear instructions: no locally funded flood control projects in the 2026 budget.” — BM, GMA Integrated News