After flood control, DPWH budget flagged anew over P50-M ‘uniform’ funding for multi-purpose buildings

The proposed allocation for the construction of multi-purpose buildings to be undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways has been flagged for having a P50-million “uniform” budget, similar to that of flood control projects that Congress already defunded.

During the plenary deliberations early Tuesday, House Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima raised concerns over what she identified as “red flags” in the scandal-plagued DPWH's already revised proposed budget.

De Lima argued that the "massive allocation for multi-purpose building across different regions and legislative districts" should have puzzled the DPWH for having an "identical" budget of P50 million each, given that this was also the exact reason behind why the agency's proposed budget incurred a massive cut of P255 billion from its original proposed budget for next year.

"There are several locations listed here. I don't have to mention this, but these are our observations--all of them, P50 million for each of these multi-purpose buildings across various regions. To me, these are red flags," De Lima told Surigao del Sur Rep. Romeo Momo, the DPWH's budget sponsor.

"This is similar to what happened with flood control projects that were removed [because] they had a uniform project cost, which elicited suspicion of a ghost project," she added.

Momo, however, explained that this is because the DPWH follows a standard design, making the project costs "identical or almost the same."

"If the DPWH has a standard design, the same costing may result in the same standard design," Momo said.

The sponsor pointed out that the actual "red flags" in DPWH's proposed budget are funds supposedly allocated for roads and bridge construction, which the agency had already removed in the revised budget it submitted to Congress.

The P255 billion slashed from DPWH's proposed budget for 2026 was initially earmarked for flood control projects under the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

It was totally removed after House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno criticized the 2026 NEP as "trash" and "poorly constructed" for containing redundant budgets for flood control projects that have already been completed.

He also accused it of containing uniform amounts for several projects worth P73 million to P93 million, all outlined in a single page in NEP. 

The NEP is the President’s proposed budget, which was submitted by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to Congress for approval. It serves as the basis for the annual budget bill, which becomes the General Appropriations Act when enacted.

Puno, along with other House leaders, proposed returning the NEP to the DBM, accusing the agency of being equally culpable for the blunders and suggesting that it may be complicit with the DPWH, which has been embroiled in allegations of corruption involving the multi-billion-peso flood control projects.

However, the plan did not push through due to time constraints, resulting in the DPWH, under new Secretary Vince Dizon, submitting a revised and "clean" budget to Congress.

The P255-billion budget cut to the DPWH saw its 2026 funding trimmed from P881 billion to P625.8 billion.

According to Akbayan Rep. Perci Cendaña, at least P15.77 billion is still earmarked for flood control projects in the DPWH's budget despite deleting P255 billion, which was realigned to education, health, and social aid. Momo, however, contended these are foreign-assisted flood projects.