THE House of Representatives cautioned on Monday that ongoing disagreements over the 2026 budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) could jeopardize nearly P400 billion worth of infrastructure projects, potentially hindering economic growth, employment, and community services.
House Committee on Appropriations Chair Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing emphasized that the core issue is not whether to eliminate overpriced components, but rather how cost reductions are implemented, stressing the need for a practical approach that does not render projects unfeasible.
“Actually, that’s the word I really wanted to avoid. I would not characterize this as a deadlock,” Suansing said during a press conference at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), where the bicameral conference committee is convened to reconcile disagreeing provisions of the 2026 General Appropriations Bill.
“We all recognize that there are overpriced items as initially estimated by the DPWH. And we all have a commitment to remove the overpriced components included in the project estimates,” Suansing added.
The warning comes as bicameral budget talks face delays, with the Senate contingent absent from Tuesday’s scheduled meeting while House conferees gathered at the PICC.
Lawmakers clashed Sunday over the DPWH’s request to reverse the P45-billion cuts imposed by the Senate on the House version of the agency’s budget. Senators have stood by the reductions, which House lawmakers believe—if applied across the board—could make close to 10,000 projects worth an estimated P400 billion unimplementable.
Suansing said the potential impact has already been quantified. “We quantified it yesterday as 9,900 projects affected, with a total amount of P406 billion,” she said. “If we assume that 25% of these projects will become unimplementable, that’s already P101 billion wasted that would have been implemented in the right way.”
She said stalled infrastructure spending would have ripple effects across the economy, the labor market, and local communities. “We need infrastructure spending now to accelerate our GDP growth,” Suansing said. “We saw what happened when the projects were stopped; many people lost their jobs.”
The dispute centers on the revised construction materials price data (CMPD) submitted by the DPWH to the Senate, which the upper chamber used as the basis for its cuts. The House, however, said the Senate erred in applying the CMPD reductions across the board rather than on a project-specific basis.
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon has said the CMPD should be applied per project, citing variations in construction material costs depending on location.
Suansing said the House is pushing for a workable and transparent solution that removes overpriced components without derailing projects already programmed for implementation. “What is the best way forward? What is the best way to go about this?” she asked. She stressed that discussions should continue openly and collectively to arrive at a solution. “It would be better if we were all in one place to discuss the questions… it would be better if we could discuss that together.”
Suansing also warned that prolonged delays threaten the completion of the budget itself. “Every single day is crucial for our technical teams to be able to finish the bill,” she said. “It’s really from a practical perspective that we need time to finish and, most especially, to really polish… it’s taking time away from the crucial step of finishing and verifying and reviewing the enrolled bill and the bicam report.”
