Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has moved to cut P2 billion in what he described as “redundant” right-of-way (ROW) appropriations under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), while pushing for structural reforms aimed at curbing corruption in the agency’s 2026 budget.

During the period of amendments for the proposed 2026 national budget, Lacson sought to delete P1 billion from the DPWH’s “Various Completed Projects for the Payments of ROW” and another P1 billion from “Various Ongoing Projects for the Payments of ROW,” both lodged under the Nationwide/Central Office.

“The Nationwide/Central Office's Payments Right-of-Way (ROW) appropriations are redundant, as funds are already allocated regionally. If these funds are essential, they should be allocated to the relevant regions,” Lacson said.

Lacson proposed to reallocate the trimmed amount to augment funding for key sectors such as education, the judiciary, and transportation. 

Among the amendments he introduced were the transfer of P2.7277 billion from Tulong Dunong to the Tertiary Education Subsidy; an allocation of P30 million for UP NCPAG’s Governance Reform, Innovation and Transformation Collaboratory (GRIT Labs); a P90.991 million increase for the Anti-Red Tape Authority; P400 million for the Department of Transportation’s Cordillera regional office; P243.79 million for the Supreme Court’s Judicial Integrity Office; P223.664 million for the Court of Appeals, whose proposed budget had faced major reductions in the National Expenditure Program; and P28.5 million for the Development Academy of the Philippines’ Graduate School of Public and Development Management.

Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who presides over the Senate finance subcommittee handling the DPWH budget, thanked Lacson for “helping the committee find resources” for priority programs.

Beyond budget realignments, Lacson also pressed for new special provisions meant to institutionalize long-term anti-corruption safeguards in infrastructure planning and implementation.

He proposed that the DPWH be required to update its design manuals for highways, bridges, and flood-control structures, noting the need for climate-resilient and modern engineering standards.

“By ensuring that the design manuals for key infrastructure are updated and consultative, we can foster foresight, strategic and climate-smart development in DPWH’s project implementation,” he said.

Lacson likewise urged the adoption of a five-year roadmap for digital planning, design, construction, maintenance, and management, including the full integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in government infrastructure projects.

BIM, already widely used in other countries, provides a digital representation of a facility’s physical and functional characteristics, allowing for tighter project monitoring, reduced leakages, and enhanced transparency.

“Recent events demonstrate that the scale, complexity, and fragmented nature of infrastructure projects create the opportunity for corruption,” Lacson said. 

“It is therefore an opportune time to adopt a technology that will ensure efficiency, transparency, and integrity in our infrastructure projects,” he added.