Senator Chiz Escudero has filed Senate Bill No. 1467, which seeks to make the Detailed Unit Price Analysis (DUPA) a permanent budgeting mechanism to ensure transparency, accuracy, and accountability in infrastructure spending while preventing overpricing.
According to Escudero, every project must reflect actual market prices and be backed by clear technical documentation.
“Hindi puwedeng tantiyahan lang ang halaga ng proyekto. Dapat may batayan, may detalye, at may pananagutan,” he said. “Kapag malinaw ang presyo ng bawat pako, semento, at serbisyo, mas nagiging tapat ang paggastos ng gobyerno. Mas nakikita ng taumbayan kung saan napupunta ang bawat piso.”
Under the proposal, no infrastructure project may be included in the national budget or undergo procurement without a DUPA that details costs for labor, equipment, materials, and other components.
The measure mandates the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Commission on Audit (COA), and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to craft a national cost estimation manual, to be updated every three years, alongside capacity-building programs for public personnel.
Officials who falsify or omit data in a DUPA document would face disqualification from public service and administrative or criminal charges.
Initially, the bill will cover FY 2026 projects of key departments such as Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Health (DOH), DPWH, and Development of Transportation (DOTr).
Escudero said the institutionalization of DUPA would promote fiscal discipline, prevent unjust budgeting, and create financial safeguards against corruption and wasteful government spending.