Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon welcomed the P529.6-billion 2026 budget approved by the Bicameral Conference Committee, assuring that the agency will use the funds provided by Congress properly and responsibly.
In a press briefing on Thursday, December 18, Dizon stated that the budget will be implemented effectively despite the reductions in his agency’s funding.
“Okay lang ‘yon kasi naniniwala ako, naniniwala ang Pangulo, at naniniwala din ang Kongreso na ang importante sa budget ay malinis siya at ma-implement siya nang tama,” he said.
(That’s okay because I believe, the President believes, and Congress believes that what matters most is that the budget is clean and implemented correctly.)
He emphasized that the budget itself is not the issue, noting that problems arise only when projects become “ghost projects,” are built to substandard quality, or are exploited for personal gain.
“Kahit na bumaba ‘yan… ‘yang budget na ‘yan ay mapupunta lahat sa mga kababayan natin para sa mga tamang project na makakatulong sa kanila,” he added.
(Even if the budget has decreased, all of that will go to our fellow citizens for the right projects that will help them.)
Earlier discussions on the DPWH budget led Congress to approve a budget that included a reduction of P20.7 billion.
This reduction resulted from applying the Construction Materials Price Data (CMPD) provided by Dizon for approximately 10,000 projects.
The approved budget is lower than the Senate’s approved amount of P570.48 billion and the House of Representatives’ version of P624.48 billion.
Initially, the National Expenditure Program proposed a P881.31-billion budget for next year, but it was cut further after locally funded flood control projects were removed due to concerns over substandard and ghost projects.
From the total budget cut, the bicameral committee realigned P16.52 billion to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), while P4.25 billion was transferred to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund.
