The Palace has endorsed the Department of Public Works and Highways bid to recover around ₱45 billion that was cut from its proposed 2026 budget, citing the agency’s capacity to implement thousands of infrastructure projects if funding is restored.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon made a last-minute appeal to lawmakers to reinstate the reduced amount ahead of the finalization of the ₱6.793-trillion national budget. Palace press officer Claire Castro said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was already aware of Dizon’s appeal before members of the bicameral conference committee resumed deliberations.
“If the request of the DPWH will not be granted [by the bicam], it will not be possible for the agency to implement nearly 10,000 projects,” Castro warned.
Deliberations were suspended on Monday following a deadlock over the DPWH budget, allowing lawmakers to pause discussions and address disagreements surrounding the agency’s funding.
Senate finance committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian said the suspension was meant to give legislators time to resolve differences over the DPWH allocation. Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said Dizon should take responsibility for alleged errors in the computation of cost reductions affecting about 10,000 infrastructure projects, adding that blaming the Senate would only prolong the impasse.
For 2026, the DPWH originally proposed a budget of ₱881.31 billion under the National Expenditure Program. The House of Representatives later reduced this to ₱625.78 billion following the President’s directive to provide zero funding for locally funded flood control projects. The Senate further cut the budget to ₱571.79 billion, slashing ₱54 billion, of which ₱45 billion was attributed to reductions based on Construction Materials Price Data.
Dizon said the CMPD reduction should not have been applied across entire regions but computed per project based on each program of works, which details the schedule, activities, resources, and costs of individual undertakings.
“Some projects require more cement, some require more steel, while others require more gravel. It depends on the [POW],” Dizon said.
He proposed that instead of blanket reductions, the DPWH be allowed to determine cost cuts per project. He said regional and district engineers had already been directed to apply the reduced CMPD before projects were opened for bidding and stressed that procurement could not proceed without clearance from the central office.
Dizon suggested that the bicameral committee adopt the DPWH budget version contained in the House General Appropriations Bill and allow the agency to internally implement material cost reductions. He added that projects under the reduced budget could still proceed if specifications were modified to fit available funds.
House appropriations senior vice chair Albert Garcia warned that granting regional and district offices discretion to modify project specifications could create new opportunities for corruption.
Lawmakers reminded Dizon that trust was placed in him, not in district officers, to ensure proper implementation. Several senators said restoring the removed funds would be difficult, particularly after Dizon himself disclosed during hearings that many proposed DPWH projects were overpriced.
Sen. Loren Legarda said the Senate’s decision to slash DPWH funding was largely based on the secretary’s own statements during budget deliberations.
In the end, Dizon said he would leave it to the bicameral conference committee to decide whether Congress or the DPWH would carry out the budget cuts.
