Win Gatchalian: Corruption mess no reason to scrap infra projects

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday said corruption should not be used as a reason to cut government infrastructure spending, warning that doing so could hurt economic growth and development.

Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate committee on finance, stressed that corruption should be addressed through accountability and prosecution—not by removing infrastructure programs.

“Corruption cannot be the reason to remove infrastructure programs, or else our people will suffer. The solution to corruption is to jail people, file cases, and make them accountable,” he said in a statement.

Gatchalian made the statement amid widespread public cynicism over corruption allegations hounding government infrastructure projects—especially those handled by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)—which critics say have become breeding grounds for kickbacks.

Under the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the DPWH was allocated P529.595 billion.

The bicameral conference committee, co-chaired by Gatchalian, earlier said the government can generate P20.7 billion in savings after lawmakers cut down overpriced estimates for construction materials used in government infrastructure projects.

Gatchalian said the savings resulted from the application of the Construction Materials Price Data (CMPD), provided by DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, to around 10,000 projects.

However, the senator noted that the DPWH budget accounts for only 4.5% of the gross domestic product, falling short of the ideal 5% target and marking the agency’s lowest allocation in recent years.

“After the flood control issue erupted, there was a slowdown in infrastructure spending. So there’s a lot of money left for infrastructure that can be continued in 2026," Gatchalian said.

"We need to adjust. This can’t be a permanent situation. We still need to spend 5% of GDP or more on infrastructure,” he added.

The Senate slashed the DPWH’s proposed 2026 budget to P570.48 billion from P624.48 billion under the General Appropriations Bill (GAB), the version approved by the House of Representatives.

The DPWH had initially proposed a P881.31-billion budget under the National Expenditure Program, but this was reduced following the removal of locally funded flood control projects amid revelations of substandard and "ghost" projects.—MCG, GMA Integrated News