Mamamayang Liberal Partylist Representative Leila De Lima and Negros Oriental 3rd District Representative Janice Degamo have filed a measure seeking to permanently institutionalize and expand the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) transparency mechanism to strengthen safeguards against corruption in government spending.
The two lawmakers authored House Bill 6772, or the proposed Transparent Procurement and Infrastructure Portal (TPIP) Act, which aims to establish a publicly accessible online platform as the official nationwide repository of information on all government-funded infrastructure projects and procurement, including goods, supplies, materials, and services.
In the bill’s explanatory note, the authors cited the gains of the existing DPWH Transparency Portal while warning that its continuation is uncertain without legislation.
“The existing DPWH Transparency Portal represents a significant advance in promoting transparency and accountability. However, without legislative action, this mechanism remains vulnerable to discontinuation, alteration, or removal by future administrations. What begins as a reform today must be protected from being undone tomorrow,” the authors said.
“By making transparency a matter of law rather than executive policy, this measure ensures continuous public access to information regardless of changes in national leadership,” they added.
HB 6772 seeks to widen transparency coverage beyond infrastructure, noting that procurement of supplies, services, equipment, and materials accounts for a large share of government spending and should be subject to public scrutiny.
Under the proposal, the TPIP will feature open data standards, AI-assisted search tools, livestreamed bidding, geo-tagged project details, and inter-agency data coordination.
Implementation will be led by the DPWH, Department of Information and Communications Technology, and Department of Budget and Management, with the Commission on Audit tasked to verify project data.
Degamo said the bill aims to decisively curb abuses in public procurement.
“We are taking this step because never again should ghost projects, bloated contracts, secretive bidding, or buried documents steal from the Filipino people. Transparency should not depend on who sits in office, it must be protected by law!” she said.
De Lima stressed the importance of constant public oversight.
“We need this measure so that many eyes are watching and able to scrutinize government expenditures, making it harder for the corrupt to steal,” she said.
“We should never leave the people in the dark about where their taxes go. Mga kurakot lang ang matatakot sa pagsasabatas ng ganitong panukala,” De Lima added.
The bill provides penalties of up to six years in prison and/or fines of as much as ₱500,000 for public officials or employees who violate its provisions.