DPWH eyes P20-B fund shift as House debates proposed 2027 budget

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will ask lawmakers to shuffle roughly P20 billion in funding across its infrastructure projects, according to Surigao del Sur Rep. Romeo Momo, Sr. on Thursday.

Momo, who sponsored the DPWH’s P643.95 billion proposed funding for next year, said the department will request the shift in project money through an institutional amendment as the House of Representatives debates the national spending plan on the congressional floor. 

“They have institutional amendments to be submitted to the committee on appropriations,” he told lawmakers.

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READ: Dizon: DPWH 2027 budget rid of ‘duplicate projects’

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ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, an opposition lawmaker sitting as a deputy minority leader in the lower chamber, then asked how the DPWH plans to carry out its proposed tweaks in its budget.

The reallocation will be drawn entirely from within DPWH’s budget without altering funding for other government agencies, Momo said, adding that the adjustment will shift money between individual projects.

“There are projects… whose amounts will just be reduced,” he said in Filipino.

Momo did not specify which projects face funding cuts or additions given the volume of line items involved, but promised to give Tinio with a complete breakdown of the proposed changes.

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The DPWH’s proposal comes as the House is holding second reading debates on the record P7.2-trillion national budget for next year. Amendments to the budget can still be introduced and entertained at that level.

Momo said that projects subject to the proposed budget changes meet strict documentation standards and rigorous vetting guidelines established while the DPWH was crafting its spending plan. 

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In August, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said projects must meet stringent documentation requirements and be backed with validated geo-tagged photos, signed off by district engineers and their regional directors, and endorsed by regional and local development councils. /mr