MANILA — The bicameral conference committee on the proposed 2026 national budget on Tuesday deferred action on the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) appeal to restore portions of its trimmed funding, amid warnings that across-the-board cuts could render nearly 10,000 infrastructure projects unimplementable.
The DPWH request was raised by Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon during the second day of bicameral deliberations, following a tense exchange between senators and House members over budget adjustments based on construction materials price data (CMPD).
The disagreement prompted House Committee on Appropriations chair Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing to ask Dizon to personally explain the agency’s position before lawmakers.
In his presentation, Dizon cautioned that the blanket application of CMPD-based reductions to thousands of projects listed in the General Appropriations Bill could undermine actual project execution.
He stressed that the department was not seeking higher costs or the revival of previously deleted items, including flood control projects, but was asking for calibrated adjustments to ensure that approved projects remain viable.
“Ibalik po ulit para ma-implement ito ng tama kasi 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 implementation,” Dizon told lawmakers.
The DPWH chief also cited recent economic data showing weaker growth in the previous quarter, which he attributed largely to reduced government spending, particularly on infrastructure.
“Our fear is… that the cut made using our adjustment factors, as Senator Win correctly pointed out, across the board 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,” he added.
Dizon explained that under the CMPD special issuance, budget cuts are meant to reflect lower base prices of construction materials while retaining the original scope and quantities of projects. Any savings, he said, are supposed to be realized during procurement through revised programs of work.
However, he noted that in some cases, the reductions exceeded actual CMPD-based savings, leaving projects inadequately funded.
Addressing concerns over transparency and enforcement, Dizon said he had personally signed a department order instructing regional directors and district engineers to strictly comply with the reduced pricing scheme. He warned that procurement approvals could be withheld and sanctions imposed on officials who fail to follow the directive.
Despite the explanations and assurances, the bicameral conference committee suspended the session at the request of House delegates, without resolving the DPWH appeal to restore the affected budget allocations./PN
