Sen. Ping Lacson Speaks on DPWH Request to Restore P45-Billion Budget
PING LACSON – The Senate President Pro Tempore called on the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to clarify the alleged miscomputation on the agency’s budget.
The bicameral conference committee over the 2026 national budget has started. However, the bicam set yesterday was postponed after the DPWH requested for a portion of its cut budget to be restored.
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon seeks P45 billion of its cut budget for 2026 to be restored. The Public Welfare Chief changes in the Construction Materials Price Data (CMPD) as the reason behind its request.
According to Dizon, around 10,000 projects of the agency may not be implemented if the request will not be granted. The proposed budget of the DPWH was initially reduced by P255 billion following the sweeping review conducted on its proposed fund.
President Bongbong Marcos was the one who ordered the sweeping review on the proposed budget of the DPWH then. According to the Palace, the Chief Executive wants to ensure that the projects of the government agency will truly benefit the Filipino people.
The request of DPWH chief Vince Dizon did not come smooth for some senators. Sen. Pia Cayetano called it an alleged “change of script” while Sen. Imee Marcos slammed Dizon for asking for additional budget while claiming that he does not trust the district engineers.
Based on a post of News5 on social media, Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson claimed that DPWH should allegedly admit that they miscalculated the budget for the agency. According to him, the lawmakers allegedly appear as antagonists in what is happening.
“Liwanagin niyo na nagkamali kayo ng computation. Hindi ‘yung kami ‘yung lalabas na kontrabida na magdagdagdag kami, ‘yung Congress,” the Senator said.
Based on the post, Sen. Ping Lacson said that the mistake they found is allegedly on the computation of the DPWH.
“Meanwhile the mistake we found was in the agency. The computation is wrong there, your estimate, or your calculation that can reduce 25%,” Lacson said.