Despite receiving one of the largest budget allocations in 2024, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) left ₱165 billion in unobligated funds, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
In its performance review, the DBM tracked how agencies managed their funds—categorizing them into obligated and unobligated. Obligated funds refer to amounts already tied to contracts or purchase orders, while unobligated funds are released capital that remains unused.
For 2024, the DPWH had ₱1.4 trillion at its disposal—sourced from regular appropriations, unprogrammed funds, transfers from other agencies, and leftover balances from 2023. Out of this, the agency obligated ₱1.2 trillion, leaving an unobligated rate of 11.8%, which the DBM still rated as “satisfactory.”
But controversies have cast a dark shadow on this assessment. The DPWH has been under fire for alleged ghost projects and corruption in flood management programs—a sector where President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. himself revealed that ₱545 billion has already been poured into flood control since 2022.
Yet, despite these billions, flooding remains a recurring nightmare every rainy season. Many projects listed as “completed” have proven unusable due to substandard construction.
And still, the DPWH managed to secure the largest single-agency budget for 2025 at ₱1.1 trillion—sparking outrage as it eclipsed the budget of the education sector, which by constitutional mandate should be the government’s top priority.