Deadlock on DPWH budget stalls bicam

Bicameral talks on the proposed 2026 national budget hit a deadlock and were postponed yesterday after senators refused to back down on P45 billion worth of cuts to what they described as overpriced public works items, Senate finance committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian announced.

- By NEIL JAYSON SERVALLOS

Speaking to reporters after a Senate caucus, Gatchalian said the chamber decided to defer the bicameral conference committee meeting to allow time to resolve budget cuts for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“On the Senate side, I called my counterpart (in the House of Representatives) and relayed the Senate’s decision, because the Senate is firm that we are against overpriced items,” he told reporters.

“We can call it a deadlock on that aspect, but we are looking for a solution,” he added.

When the bicam tackled the DPWH budget Sunday night, senators and congressmen were in a standoff regarding the cuts, with the former insisting on the reductions and the latter warning of economic losses once the P45-billion cut renders 10,000 public works projects “unimplementable.”

In what was called by several senators as an unprecedented development, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon was allowed to bargain with the Senate during Sunday night's bicam, wherein he said senators made wrong computations for the cuts.

He said the Senate made cuts across the board instead of per project, noting how each project has different specifications and circumstances.

Gatchalian said he has yet to understand what Dizon meant and that he would coordinate with the DPWH yesterday to understand the agency’s claim.

He also clarified that the Senate’s P45-billion cut was based on DPWH’s own data, not the chamber’s computations.

Despite the impasse, Gatchalian said the Senate is trying to strike a balance between preventing overpricing and ensuring that projects remain feasible.

Meanwhile, House appropriations committee chair Mikaela Suansing said the lower chamber wants to continue the proceedings even without their Senate counterparts.