Senator Win Gatchalian on Monday, 27 October, flagged over 6,000 projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) worth P271 billion for 2026.

During the continuation of the deliberation on the proposed 2026 budget of the DPWH, Gatchalian stated that the committee has identified a total of 6,187 projects for next year.

“We requested the department to indicate the station numbers so we can see where they are located, the length of each project, and to ensure they are not duplicates,” he said.

“In fairness to the department, the reappearing projects might be continuations since many project names are generic,” he added.

In response, DPWH Secretary Vivencio Dizon clarified that the 2026 budget was prepared under his predecessor.

He explained that his team has identified 946 “repeating” projects—or those with the same names as indicated in the 2025 budget—amounting to P14.455 billion.

As of 26 October, Dizon said they had validated 798 projects nationwide, amounting to P11.655 billion, with most of these projects involving roads and bridges.

Gatchalian, meanwhile, gave the DPWH until Friday, 28 October, to complete the validation of the remaining projects.