Senate, House in standoff over DPWH budget

Senators and congressmen were at a standoff at the bicameral conference committee last night over whether to restore P45 billion in public works funding cut by the Senate, with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) warning that the across-the-board reductions could render about 10,000 infrastructure projects "unimplementable.

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Reiterating an earlier appeal to the Senate, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon told the bicam that the department is not seeking the return of any flood control projects previously removed from the budget, but is asking Congress to restore roughly P45 billion that was cut using “uniform adjustment factors” applied across about 10,000 projects in the proposed 2026 General Appropriations Bill.

“We are not asking to return any project that has already been removed. No flood control project will be reinstated. What we are asking for is the return of the approximately P45 billion removed, please return this so we can implement it correctly,” Dizon said.

Dizon explained that while he agreed during Senate deliberations of the DPWH budget to cut overpriced funding, he warned that the method used by the Senate could undermine implementation.