Gatchalian Flags Over 7,000 DPWH Projects in Proposed 2027 Budget

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Win Gatchalian flagged 7,107 projects worth P251.81 billion in the proposed 2027 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Among the red flags Gatchalian raised during the Senate budget hearing on Friday, September 25, were: Projects without station limits or bridge IDs: P83.67 billion for 2,570 projects Duplicated projects: P3.94 billion for 189 projects Projects reappearing from the 2026 General Appropriations Act in the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP): P20.79 billion for 258 projects Projects without coordinates: P83.50 billion for 3,543 projects Lump-sum projects: P14.79 billion for 56 projects Overlapping or fragmented projects: P63.19 billion for 533 projects Unspecified work scope: P1.52 billion for 62 projects Conflicting types of work: P386.25 million for 20 projects Given the sheer volume of projects handled by the agency, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said they presume regularity in the proposals submitted by regional and district offices. Dizon said the DPWH would review the projects flagged by Gatchalian. He also pointed out that the projects included in the NEP came with a certificate of implementability. The document, signed by a district engineer, certifies that a proposed project has no duplicate, has not received previous funding, and does not overlap with another project. If the review finds problems with the flagged projects, Dizon said the DPWH would file cases against the concerned district engineers. At the same time, Dizon acknowledged that some of the projects flagged by Gatchalian could be explained. Gatchalian also flagged multi-billion-peso projects in the 2026 budget proposal. In 2025, it was revealed that DPWH officials had connived with contractors and lawmakers to corrupt public funds. – Rappler.com