The Senate finance committee on Friday raised alarm over P8.2 billion worth of non-compliant flood management projects and several red flags in the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) proposed 2027 budget, calling for stricter safeguards as the country works to recover from economic setbacks.

“We need to boost our infrastructure spending, but not at the expense of the reforms we want to be instituted. Every delayed project has an economic cost. And every anomalous, poorly vetted project costs us even more: It wastes taxpayers’ money, deprives endangered communities of safety, and erodes public trust,” panel chairperson Sen. JV Ejercito said in his opening statement at the Senate hearing.

“Infrastructure spending has a significant multiplier effect on the economy, creating jobs, improving connectivity, attracting investments and stimulating economic activity,” he added.

An initial review by Ejercito’s office of 1,256 projects under the DPWH Flood Management Program found that 155 projects worth P8.2 billion either failed to comply with or had incomplete mandatory documentary requirements, including geotagged photographs, Certificates of Implementability and Programs of Work.

Questionable projects remain

“We acknowledge the reforms that Secretary Vince Dizon has tried to institute. But in our initial review of several DPWH projects, we noticed some questionable items that we consider red flags,” he said.

Beyond documentary deficiencies, Ejercito identified three major red flags in the DPWH budget proposal: budget items with vague descriptions labeled merely as “various projects”; lump-sum and “clustered projects” without clear implementation details; and missing or inconsistent project limits, including items with no specified dates or costs.

Reflecting on last year’s flood-control corruption scandal, Ejercito said infrastructure spending must not be paralyzed.