BATANGAS 1st District Representative Leandro Legarda Leviste on Tuesday urged Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon to lower project prices by 25% to prevent kickbacks and to ensure full transparency regarding the 2026 DPWH budget before its vote in Congress this Friday.
In an open letter, Leviste argued that “The budget is the source of corruption in DPWH, because its above-market prices allow for supposed 20-30% kickbacks, and these prices are set by DPWH. Lowering the prices in the budget prevents kickbacks. Not lowering the prices, while knowing they are high, is tantamount to approving kickbacks.”
Leviste proposed that “A 25% reduction would cut the price of projects costing P600 billion to P450 billion. Let’s remove P150 billion in potential kickbacks in DPWH’s 2026 budget, use the savings to fund 60,000 classrooms across the country, and show that real change has come to DPWH.”
Leviste has been auditing overpriced DPWH projects in his district, citing examples such as Cat’s Eye projects costing over P24,000 per unit, solar streetlights costing over P233,000 per unit, slope protection costing over P45,000 per square meter, and proposed projects in his district’s 2026 DPWH budget, including an asphalt overlay project costing over P101.5 million per kilometer and a diversion road project costing over P186.1 million per kilometer.
