MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Tuesday said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has a “special” status in the creation of the National Expenditure Program (NEP), the executive branch’s proposed annual budget.
Agencies typically submit their budget proposals to the DBM, which consolidates them into the NEP before submission to Congress. But for DPWH, certain exemptions apply, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman told senators.
“Special ang nature kapag DPWH po. Nakalagay po sa budget call na sagot po yan ng DPWH given that they have the expertise and the people to check. Sila rin po yung bumababa sa ground with district engineers,” she said. (The DPWH has a special nature. It is stated in the budget call that DPWH is responsible since they have the expertise and the people to check. They are the ones who go on the ground with district engineers.)
Pangandaman said agencies typically submit their budget proposals through the DBM’s online portal.
Senators question process
Sen. Erwin Tulfo earlier flagged several DPWH projects with the exact same amount of P149.75 million clustered in the same area but divided into sections. Asked how such items cleared the DBM, Pangandaman said her office assumed DPWH “knew what they were doing.”
Sen. Win Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate's finance committee, countered that DBM’s own budget rules require projects to be “shovel ready,” meaning that construction is already ready to begin. This readiness is backed by feasibility studies and engineering plans submitted.
Gatchalian questioned why DPWH was allowed to follow a separate process.
“The special nature, that is the source of corruption. That is the source of corruption because you do not follow your own budget memorandum,” Gatchalian said in Filipino.
Gatchalian warned that under this practice, DPWH could directly insert projects into the NEP, which is then transmitted to Congress. Pangandaman admitted the DBM could only vet DPWH submissions for duplication.
The DBM later explained to Philstar.com that DPWH goes through the same online budget portal as other agencies but also submits soft copies of its lengthy project lists directly to the DBM, which then uploads them into the NEP system.
Red flags in projects
Despite limited manpower, Gatchalian said the DBM should be able to spot irregularities. Among the red flags he cited were projects with no station numbers, duplicates with identical budgets and names, projects split into “packages” despite being in the same river or locality, code names, and items reappearing in the NEP at the exact amounts listed in the previous year’s budget law.
“These are not clerical errors,” Gatchalian said.
Tulfo, meanwhile, suggested the anomalies could be pork barrel-type insertions made before the NEP even reached the bicameral conference committee.
The DPWH has been under fire over systemic corruption tied to ghost flood control projects, triggering a leadership shakeup. Former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan resigned and was replaced by then-Transport Secretary Vince Dizon, who has since ordered an overhaul across the agency.