Lacson: ‘Duplicate’ DPWH projects designed to ‘confuse and corrupt’

MANILA, Philippines—Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson sounded the alarm over several “duplicate” projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in its 2025 budget, saying they were designed to “confuse and corrupt.”

In his interpellation of the DPWH’s 2026 budget late Tuesday evening, Lacson noted significant bloating of “duplicate” items under the agency’s Convergence and Special Support Program (CSSP) from 2023 to 2025.

READ: Corruption-prone unprogrammed appropriations, DPWH budget for 2026 slashed

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, speaking on behalf of DPWH as budget sponsor, said these increases are “mostly congressional.”

Lacson pointed out that the DPWH’s CSSP budget in 2024 had allotted P174.088 billion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP), which ballooned to P410.91 billion in the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

He also broke down the data from 2025 to 2026 as follows:

• 2025 – The CSSP budget ballooned from P221.499 billion in the NEP to P504.226 billion in the GAA

• 2026 — The CSSP had P167.79 billion in the NEP and P234.236 billion in the House version of the budget bill. 

Lacson added that many projects under the DPWH’s Sustainable Infra Projects Alleviating Gaps had the same names as those under the Basic Infrastructure programs—but with different amounts.

“I hope this can be rectified. I can go on and on because there are so many projects. I hope Sec. Dizon will review all project titles, especially those that are the same or labeled Phase 1, Phase 2,” Lacson said.

Gatchalian said that for projects with the same title and no technical description, the district engineer may have discretion over how and where to implement them.

In his previous sponsorship speech on House Bill No. 4058, which contains the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), Gatchalian said the Senate Finance Committee reduced the proposed DPWH budget for next year, setting the agency’s funding at P568.56 billion.

“We reduced the department’s budget by P55.91 billion. During the hearings, we discovered several red flags, including roads with no station IDs, duplicate projects, projects in multiple phases, and projects reappearing from previous year’s budget,” Gatchalian said. /mcm