Senators reminded Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon that their trust lies with him personally, not with district engineering offices of the Department of Public Works and Highways, as talks continue on whether to restore slashed agency funds in the proposed 2026 budget.
During a bicameral conference committee hearing on Sunday, lawmakers said reinstating the cut allocations would be difficult since the reductions were based on Dizon’s own disclosures that several DPWH items were overpriced.
Dizon has asked the bicam to adopt the DPWH budget version approved by the House of Representatives and allow the agency to implement cost reductions internally.
He argued that the Senate’s across-the-board cuts led to inaccurate funding estimates for about 10,000 projects nationwide.
Finance committee chair Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said it was hard to trust district engineering offices, noting that project funds would go directly to them and not through the Secretary’s office.
Gatchalian warned that corrupt officials who have yet to be removed could exploit the budget, especially with materials allegedly overpriced by as much as 68 percent.
Senator Loren Legarda said the Senate’s decision to slash DPWH funds was largely guided by Dizon’s statements during budget hearings urging lawmakers to cut an overpriced budget.
She added that the Senate would have considered his current proposal had it been raised earlier in the deliberations.
Dizon told senators that a wrong application of the adjustment factor resulted in some projects being underfunded, citing asphalt overlay projects in Mimaropa and Central Visayas.
Senator Francis Pangilinan said restoring funds after admitting overpricing would be difficult to explain to the public and likened the move to adding fuel to the fire.
Dizon eventually said he would defer to the wisdom of Congress, conceding that public trust in the DPWH remains low, as the bicam meeting ended without a resolution and was suspended late Sunday night.