ON PAPER, THE Department of Public Works and Highways reduced its proposed 2027 budget to P643.95 billion, a marked decline of 26.8 percent from 2026.
The infrastructure component is about 89% of the total (P572.92 billion), broken down into six program categories. The Road sector (Network + Bridge) gets the lion’s share at 38.5%, followed by Convergence and Special Support Program or CSSP with 27.4%.
Flood Management (at 18%) moves down to third — understandably so, because the agency has yet to complete flood control master plans for most of the 18 major river basins with large drainage areas in the country, wrote civil engineer Rene Santiago in Business World.
In particular, the flood management program is bereft of a suspicious laundry list; with less than 300 projects in number compared to over 1,800 in the prior year’s National Expenditure Program. The proposed allocation for 2027 is P103.45 billion, or just 44% of that in 2026 and about 25% of this year’s General Appropriations Act.
Though DPWH’s proposed budget of P643.95 billion is a credible and justifiable budget, a perennial sore thumb is the split responsibility in the National Capital Region’s flood control management. Under Executive Order No. 52, s1986, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) should have assumed primacy by this time. And yet, the region’s allocation (~P9.97 billion) for the DPWH is bigger than MMDA’s P3.9 billion.
The proposed allocation for Asset Preservation (P76.5 billion) should be the last candidate for trimming because these projects typically yield the highest economic returns.
SUSPICIOUS CSSP
The Capital Outlay for the Convergence Special Support Program (CSSP) demands closer scrutiny as former DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson once warned “this program is ‘suspicious’ — and the numbers today reinforce that concern.
While the CSSP seeks P157.3 billion, lower than the historical average of P350 billion, it still raises red flags:
The last four items resemble blank checks — vague in scope, local in nature, and better left to LGUs. Meanwhile, water supply and sewerage projects fall squarely under the Local Water Utilities Administration’s (LWUA) mandate, while rainwater collectors belong to flood management programs.
HIDDEN CODES
Under the Network Development Program, tertiary roads claim P741.6 million, plus P1.63 billion for right of way.
He said these allocations should be deleted or drastically trimmed. LGUs already expect P1.55 trillion in 2027 transfers, consistent with the Local Government Code and the National Road Strategy.
The hidden motive is clear: road alignments boost land values, often benefiting private interests more than public mobility, he explained.
FISCAL SCALPEL
The most glaring item is the P40.97 billion for Multi-Purpose Buildings scattered nationwide. These are local projects with district bragging rights, not national priorities.
While politically difficult to eliminate, they must at least carry a general condition: grant first use to nearby public schools. This way, these buildings can double as classrooms and help ease the chronic shortage in education infrastructure.
The CSSP, as currently structured, is a “grab-bag of misaligned projects.” National funds should not bankroll local vanity works or duplicate agency mandates. A fiscal scalpel is urgently needed to:
• Trim tertiary roads and ROW allocations.
• Reassign water and sewerage projects to LWUA.
• Redirect Multi-Purpose Buildings toward classroom relief.
• Push LGUs to shoulder local facilities.
The DPWH is saddled with many little things that LGUs can do better. Congress can do its part by re-shaping the budget for 2027.
Santiago is an infrastructure and transportation development specialist with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Master of Engineering degree and over 50 years of professional experience.
He is a member of the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF), a fellow of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE), and a past president of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP).