DPWH to revise ’26 project list amid flak over duplications
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will submit to the House of Representatives a revised list of projects under its proposed budget for next year to address concerns raised by lawmakers, particularly on items related to flood control.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Wednesday said adjusting the DPWH budget would be a more practical solution than returning the entire 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) to the executive branch, which could heighten the risk of having a reenacted budget next year.
The 2026 NEP was already approved by the executive last month and submitted to Congress for deliberation as the basis of the national budget for next year.
Pangandaman said the DPWH and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) have two weeks from Sept. 3 to finalize the corrected list and for both agencies to set up a system for flagging duplicate entries and projects already completed but still getting funding.
“We will send them the new list, the changes that will happen there. In our opinion, it’s an easier process than sending the NEP back to the DBM,” Pangandaman said at a press briefing. “So what will happen in the next two weeks, if there is a need to change, replace, or remove, the DPWH will submit it.”
At the same briefing, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon explained that “We do not need to go on each of the line items of the DPWH. We can start on all the items being questioned by our lawmakers.”
Still, Pangandaman said the DBM was preparing in case Congress would insist on returning the NEP, but warned that a reenacted budget would leave many projects unfunded and weigh heavily on economic growth.
President’s order
The move came after President Marcos ordered Pangandaman and Dizon on Wednesday to reevaluate the proposed DPWH budget to address allegations that it contains allocations for projects that have been already completed or inserted at the last minute.
Of the P6.793-trillion budget proposed by the executive department, 13 percent or P880 billion are allocated to the DPWH.
Public works allocation is the second-highest in the 2026 NEP, behind education’s P928.5 billion, but higher than health’s P320.5 billion.
“The President emphasized that the review must lead to the necessary changes to guarantee transparency, accountability, and the proper use of the people’s money, ensuring that resources are directed toward infrastructure projects that genuinely serve and benefit the Filipino people,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said in a briefing.
According to Castro, the new order of the President to the DBM and the DPWH stemmed from the revelations of Marikina Rep. Marcelino Teodoro and Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno of Antipolo about flood control projects that were already deemed completed in previous years, but appeared again as line items in DPWH budget proposal for 2026.
For example, Teodoro said he found a slope protection project at Balanti Creek in Barangay Sto. Niño, Marikina, which was reported to be completed as early as 2023.
He saw the same project under the DPWH’s flood mitigation program in the 2026 NEP.
Puno also found that flood control projects in Barangays Mayamot, Muntindilaw and Mambugan in Antipolo, which were identified as priorities by the district and regional engineering offices of the DPWH, were no longer in the NEP.
Red flags
On the second day of the Senate finance committee’s meeting with the Development Budget Coordination Committee on the 2026 NEP on Tuesday, Sen. Erwin Tulfo also flagged “duplicating items” related to flood control projects, describing them as either “a serious lapse in judgment or a deliberate maneuver.”
Tulfo cited projects in Antique and Iloilo provinces that both carried the exact same allocation of P149,750,000—“similar down to the last peso.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Panfilo Lacson cited at least P51.82 billion worth of “distinct” but vague insertions in the proposed DPWH budget, including 88 items with P150 million in funding each, for a total of P13.2 billion; 373 items with P100-million allocation each, for a total of P37.3 billion; and 11 items costing P120 million each, for a total of P1.32 billion.
The similarities in the amount and the absence of a clear “stationing’’ (details about the location) are a “blatant red flag” for ghost projects, Lacson said.
According to Castro, the review would also consider the suggestion of Senate President Francis Escudero for Malacañang to come up with a “negative list” of infrastructure projects that will not be funded in the 2026 national budget as a proactive measure to get rid of questionable and nonessential projects of the DPWH.
Among the projects that Escudero wanted included in the negative list are low-value but overpriced road devices such as reflective studs (also known as “cat’s eyes”), slope protection nets and paints, as well as “vanity projects” such as waiting sheds, swimming pools, signages and nonessential amenities. —WITH A REPORT FROM LUISA CABATO
