Sweeping DPWH budget reforms set

MANILA, Philippines — There will be a sweeping overhaul in the budget submission process of the Department of Public Works and Highways, whose total project count for next year will be slashed by more than half, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said yesterday.

Dizon also warned DPWH district engineers (DEs) that signing off on unvetted or “defective, anomalous” projects could land them in jail.

Highlighting a complete departure from “old budget habits” that allowed billions in public funds to be squandered on poorly planned infrastructure projects, Dizon said the DPWH is imposing a strict “no plan, no budget” policy across all regional and district offices.

“The old ways of budgeting are over,” he told reporters yesterday during his inspection of flood control and infrastructure projects at the EDSA Balintawak Cloverleaf area in Quezon City.

“We no longer accept project entries that consist of just a line-item title and a price tag. Projects must originate from community needs and satisfy complete prerequisite engineering requirements before entering the budget.”

Under the newly instituted accountability framework, DEs are required to personally sign certification documents guaranteeing that submitted projects have secured right-of-way acquisitions, detailed engineering designs and complete programs of work.

Dizon cautioned field officials against blindly approving lump-sum or unverified proposals, warning that their personal signatures will serve as primary evidence in criminal proceedings.

“If a DE signs off on a project and it turns out to be defective, anomalous, or ghost infrastructure, they are automatically held accountable,” he warned. “I will bring their signed certifications directly to the National Bureau of Investigation or the Ombudsman. It will be an open-and-shut case, and corrupt district engineers will go straight to prison.”

To enforce strict quality control and eliminate bloated, uncoordinated civil works, Dizon said the DPWH drastically pared down its project portfolio from 26,000 projects in previous budget cycles down to 11,000 highly targeted national projects.

Dizon reiterated that every approved project must carry written concurrence from the concerned local government unit to ensure alignment with local drainage and traffic master plans.

“While these reforms aren’t entirely foolproof, they create a formidable shield against the systemic corruption of the past,” Dizon added. “We will remain vigilant in guarding the public coffers.”