DE LIMA SLAMS DPWH’s WASTEFUL SPENDING, POOR PROJECT PRIORITIZATION

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September 7, 2025

5–7 minutes

House Deputy Minority Leader and Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Partylist Representative Leila M. de Lima called out the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) lack of a strategic plan and prioritization when it comes to putting the right project in the right place, thereby wasting public funds.

During the House briefing on the proposed 2026 budget of DPWH on Sept. 5, De Lima asked newly appointed Secretary Vince Dizon about the criteria of the agency in prioritizing areas where projects will be implemented.

“Isa-isahin po natin: Sa mga flood control projects, how do you determine which areas need these flood control projects? Nakadepende ba ito sa pangangailangan, o baka naman sa laki ng kickback? Kung nakadepende sa pangangailangan, bakit hindi Nueva Ecija, Metro Manila, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Oriental Mindoro ang may pinakamaraming flood control projects?” De Lima asked.

“Meron bang mga batayan ito in terms of prioritization? Because that is very important para hindi po nasasayang yung pondo,” she stressed.

In her interpellation, the lady solon from Bicol also cited data from Malacañang released last Aug. 11 which indicates that most areas with the highest number of flood control projects are not included in the list of flood-prone provinces in the country.

Responding to De Lima’s query, Dizon said: “To be quite honest, I don’t think there is a master plan or there is a basis. So it’s quite arbitrary, Madam Chair, to be quite honest.”

De Lima then pointed out the flood control master plan that the DPWH completed under the leadership of former Secretary Rogelio “Babes” Singson, but was not used by his successors.

Dizon noted the existence of the said master plan for National Capital Region (NCR) and 18 river basins across the country, but mentioned that he does not think it was used by the agency as basis in constructing flood control projects.

De Lima also flagged DPWH’s inefficiency in selecting primary, secondary, and tertiary roads to maintain.

“Bakit bilyon-bilyon ang allotment ng DPWH sa maintenance ng mga halos pare-parehong daan in the past few years? Ano bang klaseng preventive maintenance ang ginagawa po dito?” De Lima asked.

“Nakapagtataka ang pagkamahal-mahal na preventive maintenace ng ilang mga kalsada sa bansa. O ito ba yung halimbawa ng ginawa, giniba, ginawang bago, tapos gigibain uli para magbigay daan sa SOP at kickback?” she added in a separate statement.

The solon also cited the observation that the “preventive maintenance of national roads” subprogram does not necessarily go to regions with the longest roads that are in “fair” and “poor” condition.

For 2026, it was proposed that Region 3 will have the biggest budget for “preventive maintenance of national roads” with only 1,177 kms. of “fair” and “poor” roads, while NCR with the third largest budget at P4.2 billion, only has 334.7 kms. of “fair” and “poor” roads.

In contrast, De Lima said Region 5, CAR and Region 8 have the longest “fair” and “poor” roads at 1,461 kms., 1,353.5 kms., and 1,283 kms., respectively, but have smaller budgets of P2.4 billion, P797 million, and P3 billion, respectively.

Dizon replied: “Kailangan mabago ito, dahil kailangan pong malaman ng DPWH, halimbawa po, just off the top my head, kailangan pong malaman ng DPWH ano ba yung mga daan na talagang in desperate need of maintenance already. Yun pong mga sinasabi ninyo, mga kalye na talagang napag-iwanan na ng panahon, na hindi na nabalikan, hindi na na-maintain, yan po kailangan ma-identify yan.”

According to De Lima, “Hindi talaga uubra ang bara-bara, yung kung saan-saan lang, at kung sino-sino lang ang nagpapagawa ng mga proyekto na pinopondohan ng taumbayan. This is an injustice to the Filipino people.”

“Kinakawawa lagi ng ganitong kapalpakan at katiwalian ang ating mga kababayan, ninanakaw ang pondong galing sa buwis na kanilang pinaghirapan; mga kababayan natin na lumulusong sa baha, nawawalan ng kita at kabuhayan sa tuwing may bagyo, humaharap sa peligro, nagkakasakit, at binabawian ng buhay dahil sa mga palpak, hindi pinag-isipan o ni hindi man lang ginawang proyekto pero pinondohan at pinopondohan pa rin ng gobyerno,” she lamented.

During the said hearing, De Lima made two motions to compel the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and DPWH to submit any new proposals, errata and amendments to the proposed budget of the DPWH, and to defer the hearing of the proposed 2026 budget of DPWH, which the Committee on Appropriations granted.

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