How lawmakers' add-ons swelled DPWH’s budget by P540B
MANILA, Philippines — Congressional amendments to the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) budget have steadily surged over the years, but the increases hit record highs under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The DPWH is facing the biggest corruption scandal to date — one that will be the legacy-defining test for the president. Several government officials and lawmakers have been tagged in multi-billion-peso kickback schemes and ghost flood control projects.
Based on Philstar.com's review, the DPWH budget has ballooned, with lawmakers having continuously raised the agency’s funds beyond what the executive asked for, especially during the Marcos administration.
The agency, responsible for paving the way for the nation’s infrastructure growth, typically has the highest budget for a single agency.
Under the late president Benigno Aquino III, the 2011 DPWH budget proposed in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) was P100.82 billion, with Congress making no adjustments.
By the end of Aquino's term, the budget had more than doubled, leaving his successor, Rodrigo Duterte, with a P290-billion DPWH allocation in 2016 General Appropriations Act (GAA). The act is the final, executory version of the budget for a year.
The uptrend continued under Duterte's term. Except for 2019, the increases under Duterte’s DPWH budget were consistent, suddenly spiking in his last year of presidency in 2022—an election year. It was when P685.24 was proposed, but which Congress topped up with a little more than P100 billion to end up with the P785.72 billion final budget.
The congressional amendments to the DPWH budget have not fallen below P100 billion ever since.
Marcos-era ballooning
Both administration's budgets were a far cry from the current administration’s. For 2025, Marcos’ administration asked for P898.89 billion—almost nine times Aquino’s NEP.
But Congress decided that it was not enough, adding P188.8 billion, raising the agency's allocation to a whopping P1.08 trillion in the GAA.
Since 2023, lawmakers have tacked on at least P540 billion in additional DPWH funds — the bulk of the P679.1 billion difference between presidents’ proposed NEPs and the final GAAs over the last decade.
Once the executive branch submits the NEP to Congress, it can no longer raise the proposed budget. This means all increases are insertions made by lawmakers, who cannot exceed the total amount prescribed in the NEP. Budget increases by Congress are therefore offset by reductions in other agencies' allocations.
Once Congress approves the budget and returns it to the president, the executive may reduce items through a veto. Increases or reallocations at the executive level, however, are not allowed under the law.
Why it matters
The anomalies in the DPWH flood control budget are being traced to legislators and alleged budget insertions they made.
Contractor couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya have named several House lawmakers in alleged kickback schemes, claiming that legislators asked them for a cut of flood control funding.
Meanwhile, a former DPWH official accused Sens. Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva of inserting millions into the national budget to receive a share later. Estrada allegedly inserted P355 million, while Villanueva was accused of inserting P600 million, both purportedly for personal gain.
Billions of pesos are suspected to have been lost to ghost flood control projects and kickback schemes.
Investigations by both the executive and legislative branches are ongoing, while public scrutiny is growing. Corruption in flood control is particularly concerning for a country prone to natural disasters.
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