The Senate on Monday flagged more than 6,000 infrastructure projects worth P271 billion in the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), citing possible duplication and unclear project details.

During budget deliberations, Senator Win Gatchalian said the finance subcommittee identified 6,187 “red flag” projects requiring further scrutiny.

“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,” Gatchalian said.

He added that some reappearing projects might be legitimate continuations, as many project names are generic.

DPWH Secretary Vivencio Dizon clarified that the 2026 budget was prepared under his predecessor. He reported that his team had already found 946 repeating projects, including those with names appearing in the 2025 budget, amounting to P14.455 billion.

As of 26 October, Dizon said the DPWH had validated 798 projects nationwide worth P11.655 billion, mostly involving road and bridge construction and rehabilitation. The validation process aims to confirm whether projects are legitimate continuations or redundant entries.

Senator Erwin Tulfo criticized the widespread practice of reblocking roads still in good condition, saying it leads to duplication and waste in government infrastructure projects.

“Have you already established controls to ensure this won’t happen again, particularly through the Commission on Audit’s regional or district offices for proper reporting?” Tulfo asked.

Dizon said that aside from ongoing post-audit measures, a pre-audit of all infrastructure projects is being implemented as part of the agency’s reform efforts.

Gatchalian emphasized that providing detailed technical descriptions in infrastructure projects would help prevent duplication of line items in the budget.