Dizon attends bicam, seeks sufficient budget for projects

Another session took place on the second day of the Bicameral Committee, which was livestreamed, calling Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon to discuss the agency’s 2026 budget.

In a statement posted Saturday evening, DPWH requested the Senate of the Philippines to restore amounts deducted from projects for 2026 due to reductions in the Construction Materials Price Data (CMPD).

According to DPWH, the motion aims to prevent inaccurate costing and potential project unimplementability, which may lead to underspending, as well as related legal and administrative issues.

The proposed DPWH budget was P624.48 billion in the House of Representatives’ version. However, it was reduced to P570.48 billion in the Senate’s version.

Before Secretary Dizon was summoned to the plenary, Senator Loren Legarda emphasized that the reductions were based on DPWH data, which had been repeatedly discussed during deliberations and at the blue ribbon hearing.

"I just put that in the record so that it’s part of historical knowledge. The Senate did not set the price of sand, gravel, or cement; this came from DPWH," Sen. Legarda said.

"It’s not like we just woke up and decided to lower the price—of course we want to—but this is data-driven; it’s based on science, and it came from the government agency," she added.

Palawan 2nd District Representative Jose Alvarez supported the DPWH motion, citing that material prices vary by area and that similar cuts could result in unfinished projects.

"In Southern Palawan, the price of aggregate, gravel, and sand is lower because we have 26 rivers, so there is a lot of sand there. In the North, they have fewer rivers and import from Mindoro," Alvarez said.

"So, if you remove 50 percent from your Motor Vehicle User’s Charge (MVUC) application for asphalt overlay for all of Palawan, you won’t be able to complete the northern projects," he added.

When Secretary Dizon was summoned, he acknowledged that he had previously suggested lowering the budget but clarified that his goal is to ensure proper implementation so projects can still be completed.

He cited President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to ramp up infrastructure spending to address the Philippines’ slow economic growth, explaining the need to restore approximately P45 billion in the budget.

"He is very conscious of our need to increase infrastructure spending and implementation. We know that in the past quarter, the economy grew by only four percent, largely due to cuts in public expenditure, especially infrastructure. The President does not want that to happen," Dizon said.

"The cuts made using our adjustment factors, as Senator Win correctly pointed out, across roughly 10,000 projects in the General Appropriations Bill, may result in projects that end up being unimplementable," he added.

Dizon also clarified that DPWH is not aiming to restore the previous budget in full.

"It is not true that we are returning to the higher prices. And because of the President’s reforms, this will not be restored in the future," he said.

Furthermore, Dizon acknowledged that public trust in DPWH is low due to past anomalies in agency projects. He said he has issued directives to regional directors and district engineers to strictly comply with rules or face administrative and criminal complaints.