The duplicated and completed projects included in the previous proposed 2026 budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have been removed, Secretary Vince Dizon confirmed during the House Committee on Appropriations budget deliberation on Wednesday, September 17.
To the best of their abilities, Dizon said they worked together with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman to review the proposed budget. Moreover, Pangandaman provided them with the software and experts to help them comb through the budget’s duplicates and completed projects.
"Pinilit po natin to the best of our ability na matanggal po yung mga projects po na nire-raise na rin po mismo ng mga members ng House of Representatives at ng Committee on Appropriations," Dizon assured.
The following were removed from the revised version of the DPWH’s proposed budget:
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Duplicate projects
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Completed projects
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Overlapping sections in road projects
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Rock netting, cat’s eye and studs’ projects
The DPWH revised budget for 2026, indicating the removal of duplicate and completed projects. Screengrab from the House of Representatives/YT.
The Committee Chairman and Nueva Ecija 1st District Rep. Mikaela Suansing requested Dizon’s confirmation on the two duplications, particularly with projects that had the exact location, station number, and phase or package number.
In addition, Suansing also pointed out the other duplication raised by the committee members. This pertains to the completed projects that were funded in the previous year and were again included in the 2026 budget proposal.
"Opo ma'am. Again, to the best of our ability and even with the help of the DBM, we have tried our best to comb through the entire budget," Dizon said in response.
"Pero again po, ang caveat ko lang po. Kung mayroon pa pong makikita, we will of course, leave that up to the wisdom of the honorable members of the Committee on Appropriations to remove those items kung meron pa pong natira na dito na hindi na namin nakita," he added.
Some of the projects included in the previous budget proposal also had several phases that reached the ninth phase. Dizon also assured that they removed the excess phases and combined those that are similar.
The agency’s revised budget cut ₱252.53 billion, which was previously allocated for the locally-funded flood control projects. However, as per President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s directive, Dizon clarified that the budget for the said projects in 2026 would be “zero.”
