Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Legarda Leviste on Wednesday urged Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon to reduce the cost of DPWH projects by 25% to help address the Department of Education’s (DepEd) estimated shortage of 165,000 classrooms.

“The country lacks over 165,000 classrooms according to the DepEd. The good news is, today, the funding for 25,000 classrooms in 202 was approved. The question is how do we fund new classrooms in every school nationwide,” Leviste said.

Leviste said a 25% reduction in DPWH project costs could save the government ₱400 billion—enough to build classrooms nationwide without incurring additional expenses, debts, or taxes.

He added that lowering project costs would also eliminate kickbacks at the district level, which persist despite lawmakers’ lack of direct involvement.

“DPWH computes the prices, bids and implements projects, and even if a Congressmen is not involved, District Engineering Offices still rig bids, handpick contractors and collect kickbacks instead of the Congressman. That’s why the solution should start from within DPWH itself,” Leviste said.

“I commend Secretary Dizon for his steps to clean up DPWH. Corruption won’t be solved overnight, but if he wants to cut kickbacks immediately, he can lower prices by 25%. I pray that he will do the right thing for our country,” he added.

Leviste’s remarks follow his open letter to Secretary Dizon calling for a 25% reduction in project costs to signal transparency in the department’s 2026 budget ahead of Congress’s budget approval.