Senator questions 946 infra projects 

SENATE Finance Committee Chair Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian on Monday said about 946 projects worth P14.4 billion under the Public Works department were found to be potential red flags.

In a Senate budget hearing, Mr. Gatchalian questioned the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) whether it verified the projects had been duplicated in the 2026 budget.

“Did (the agency) find any projects that were doubled, based on your analysis? Anything that were doubled, or those that have been executed and reappeared in the 2026 budget,” he asked in Filipino.

Public Works Secretary Vivencio “Vince” B. Dizon said that the agency has verified that 798 of the projects, worth P11.6 billion, are continuing infrastructure projects.

“For the remaining 148, we do not know yet,” Mr. Dizon said in Filipino.

Mr. Dizon said that the projects were for continuations of exciting projects that required additional funding.

The senator gave the Department of Public Works and Highways until Oct. 31 to complete its verification of the remaining flagged projects.

“If your initial review did not find any repeated (projects), and in good faith these are all continuations, we will give you until Friday,” Mr. Gatchalian said.

The DPWH budget has been in heightened scrutiny following the discovery the contractors and Public Works officials had siphoned off funds from flood control infrastructure projects. — Adrian H. Halili