Ministry of Public Works and highway (DPWH) deforestation There are approximately P2.55 billion locally funded flood control projects From the proposed 2026 budget.
We are revising the agency’s budget for 2026. We have removed complex projects, overlapping projects are still receiving funds or projects that have allocated funds for 2026,” Public Works and Highways Secretary Vivencio “Vince” B. Dizon told the House Appropriations Committee Wednesday.
He said DPWH has reviewed the initial proposal and removed duplicates worth 25.53 billion columns in next year’s budget.
DPWH’s proposed budget for 2026 has now been reduced to pesos 625.78 billion, 28.9% lower than the original proposal.
Mr Dizon said the allocation in 2026 was the lowest budget of DPWH since 2023 of 718.35 billion PPWH.
“We have done our best in the allotment period to ensure that the issues raised in the previously submitted budget, such as funding for completed and duplicate projects, are fully addressed,” he said.
Out of next year’s P625,788 crore budget, 482.32 billion PPEs were allocated for road projects, while 15.77 billion PPEs were allocated for foreign auxiliary flood control projects, such as payments to multilateral institutions such as the Asian Development Bank and Japan’s international cooperation agency. It allocated pesos 94.16 billion to other projects.
DPWH budget reduction is associated with Jr. Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. Anomalies are allegedly present in the flood control project.
“We also want to convey to Congress the president’s recommendation to reduce the fiscal space of P255 billion, but rather to programs and projects allocated to agriculture, education, health care, housing, labor, social welfare and information technology,” Diesan said.
The DPWH chief said the agency is still reviewing flood control projects and reports. He said three other cases related to these anomalies will be submitted soon.
DPWH has submitted a list of more than 9,000 projects completed between July 2022 and May 2025. Of these, 160 projects have been verified, and 15 have been reported to be missing or unassigned.
On Tuesday, DPWH also canceled a two-week suspension of auctions for locally funded projects, citing the need to quickly track the launch of critical infrastructure.
“Small amount”
Meanwhile, Budget Secretary Amenah F. PanGandaman says the proposed P25.5 billion Enter locally funded flood control projects In DPWH’s 2026 budget, it is unlikely to weaken economic growth and infrastructure spending next year.
“Peos 200 billion? That’s just a small amount. Our infrastructure budget is over trillion, right? It’s going to be a little bit less,” she told reporters on Wednesday.
“It is important that we can still implement key projects such as teaching buildings, hospitals and infrastructure that support our agricultural sector. Hope all goes well.”
The Ministry of Budget has submitted a proposed national spending plan for 2026 P679.3 crore in rupees, 7.4 per cent higher than this year’s national budget, which is equivalent to 22 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The government sets 5%-6% public infrastructure expenditures for annual public infrastructure expenditures.
Ms Pangandaman said all legal obligations to government contractors would not be affected.
“I think (Mr. Dillonne) is reviewing all existing contracts. Some contracts are being stopped, but it is part of the cleaning and review process,” she said. “For those who are clean and properly implemented, they should continue.”
Nigel Paul C. Villarete, senior consultant at PPP (Public Private Partnership) at the technology consulting group Libra Konsult, Inc. It said that the DPWH’s budget cuts should also be thoroughly reviewed to ensure that the rollout of required infrastructure projects will not be affected.
“I believe that deeper action must be taken on this issue. Floods are real and catastrophic for many places and many communities in our country. Indeed, the corruption in these flood control projects is real and harmful to our country and people, but we cannot solve this problem simply by eliminating flood control,” said Mr Villarete. – Ashley Erika O. Jose and Aubrey Rose A. Inosante
