The Senate will remove 295 infrastructure projects totaling ₱8.836 billion from the proposed 2027 national budget due to a lack of required supporting documents from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Senate President Win Gatchalian announced the decision on Tuesday, November 3, stating that the move aims to eliminate unsubstantiated line items and ensure public funds are allocated efficiently.
“The Senate is committed unequivocally in weeding out unsubstantiated line items, including those lacking concrete and verifiable technical support, to ensure that every item in the final version is shovel-ready,” Gatchalian said in a statement.
“Unverifiable line items will not receive a single peso of public funding,” he emphasized.
The action follows a letter from former Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon, which disclosed that an internal DPWH assessment classified the 295 projects as “non-compliant.”
The review stems from eight categories of red flags raised by Gatchalian during Senate budget deliberations. An analysis of 11,395 infrastructure items in the National Expenditure Program revealed that over 62 percent—or 7,107 projects—contained at least one serious budgetary concern. Issues identified included missing station numbers and geographic coordinates, lump-sum listings, overlapping or fragmented scopes, and inconsistent types of work.
Emphasizing the importance of fiscal accountability, Gatchalian noted that protecting public funds is critical while the economy experiences sluggish growth.
“The Senate’s mandate is clear: no supporting documents, no funds,” the Senate chief said.
“We must ensure there is no room for the abuse of public funds—especially now, when the economy is moving sluggishly and every peso is crucial to revitalizing it,” he stressed.