Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman and newly-appointed Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon agreed Wednesday to complete the review of the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) proposed 2026 budget within two weeks.
Pangandaman and Dizon met, following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s “unprecedented” directive to revisit the DPWH budget in the 2026 National Expenditure Program amid concerns over alleged inconsistencies and double entry of projects.
In a press conference after the meeting at the DBM central office, Dizon welcomed Marcos’ latest order, since he is “unfamiliar” with the processing of budget allocation for thousands of projects under the DPWH.
Dizon said the DPWH’s spending plan for 2026 consists of 700 pages.
“Tingin ko lang kailangan meron itong deadline kasi limitado ang ating oras. Importanteng mapasa natin itong budget na ito. Hindi lang ito budget ng DPWH kundi budget ng buong gobyerno (I just think there needs to be a deadline because our time is limited. It is important that we pass this budget. This is not just the DPWH budget but the budget of the entire government),” he said.
“Nag-usap kami ni Sec. Minah (I talked to Sec. Minah). We both agreed on a two-week timeline. Dalawang lingo maximum. Pwedeng mas maigsi. Kailangan lang syempre, pagtrabahuan natin itong maigi (Two weeks maximum. It could be shorter. We just need to work on it well, of course).”
Dizon said the DBM and the DPWH will start reviewing the projects that were flagged by Congress.
Leaders of the House of Representatives on Wednesday recommended the return of the 2026 NEP to the DBM and temporarily halt the budget deliberations until the reported “erroneous entries” are fixed.
Pangandaman expressed confidence that the review of the DPWH’s proposed budget for 2026 will be done before the two-week deadline, adding that possible changes will be submitted to Congress.
“Ipapadala natin sa kanila ‘yung bagong listahan, ‘yung mga changes na mangyayari doon. Sa tingin po namin mas madali yan na proseso at procedure kaysa magbalikan tayong ganyan. Kasi never pa po siya nangyari (We will send them the new list, the changes that will be made there. We think that is an easier process and procedure than returning it. Because it never happened before),” she said.
Pangandaman said the proposed budget of the DPWH may go down, depending on the results of the review.
While the DBM is ready for a reenacted budget, the agency and the entire executive branch are “very much willing” to work with Congress to address the issues concerning the DPWH’s spending plan for 2026, Pangandaman said.
“Dito naman sa DBM, ready. I think ginagawa na nila ang guidelines, assuming na magkaroon tayo ng reenacted budget. Pero syempre, ‘di ba nga sinabi natin na ‘yung reenacted budget magko-cause ng downturn ng ating ekonomiya especially now na nakikita ‘yung malaking kontribusyon ng budget sa ekonomiya (Here at the DBM, it’s ready. I think they are already working on the guidelines, assuming we have a reenacted budget. But of course, we have said a reenacted budget will cause a downturn in our economy, especially now that we see the huge contribution of the budget to the economy),” she said.
“Ayaw naman nating mawala ‘yun with what’s happening with the world. Ayaw naman nating masira ang trajectory natin. Mabilis ang andar ng ekonomiya natin. Gusto pa nating bumilis, lalo na itong last three years ng administrasyon at ng ating Pangulong Bongbong Marcos (We don’t want to lose that with what’s happening with the world. We don’t want to ruin our trajectory. Our economy is moving fast. We want to speed it up even more, especially in the last three years of the administration and our President Bongbong Marcos).” (PNA)
