The budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has swelled by P540 billion from the additional appropriations made by lawmakers. This increase was even higher under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
In 2011, the DPWH budget under former President Aquino was only P100.82 billion. By President Duterte's final year in 2022, it had reached P785.72 billion after Congress increased it by more than P100 billion.
Currently, for 2025, the administration requested P898.89 billion, but Congress increased it by P188.8 billion. In the end, the DPWH's official budget reached P1.08 trillion.
Starting in 2023, lawmakers have recorded a P540 billion increase in the DPWH budget. Most of this is connected to flood control projects that are allegedly related to kickbacks and ghost projects. Several senators and congressmen are implicated in the said scandal.
The government and legislature are continuing their investigation. This is important because funding for flood control is critical for a country that is often hit by typhoons and floods, but billions of pesos are suspected to have been lost due to corruption.
