DPWH aims to rationalize ‘Luzon-centric’ infrastructure budget

MANILA, Philippines — Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said on Wednesday his agency sought to make next year’s regional infrastructure spending fair nationwide after past budgets had been biased toward Luzon.

At a congressional briefing, Dizon said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is moving towards making infrastructure allotments “more needs-based.”

He told lawmakers that he had observed that more than half of the department’s budget in the past decade had been allocated to Luzon.

“But this is a process that will require several years of correcting,” he said.

Dizon pitched a 21.34 percent increase in the DPWH’s budget for 2027, from P529.59 billion approved for this year.

Luzon received an average of 56 percent of the public works department’s budgets over the past decade, a DPWH presentation showed.

Visayas got 17 percent and Mindanao 27 percent.

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In its spending plan for next year, Luzon’s share was cut to 52.65 percent. Visayas was raised to 19.8 percent, while Mindanao inched up at 27.55 percent.

Dizon said his agency would work to ensure the public works budget is “more equitable for the regions that need it most,” referring to Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga and Caraga regions.

He described these places as some of the areas “with the highest poverty incidences.”

“This, we feel, is a good start. But personally, this is still not enough,” he said.

Nevertheless, Dizon deferred his spending plan up to the discretion of lawmakers, who have the authority to cut or tweak proposed budgets.

“We will leave it again up to the wisdom of Congress, if you feel that we need to reallocate some more in order to really address the needs, especially of regions and provinces and areas that need it the most,” he told the legislators. /apl