Lacson flags duplicate projects in DPWH budget

MANILA, Philippines —  Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson has flagged multiple “duplicate” projects in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 2025 budget, suggesting the identical entries were intentionally designed to “confuse and corrupt.”

During his interpellation of the DPWH’s proposed 2026 budget on Tuesday night, Lacson cited the Convergence and Special Support Program (CSSP), noting that its funding has been “significantly bloated every year” from 2023 to 2025 due to congressional insertions.

Lacson showed that the CSSP budget consistently ballooned by over 100 percent from the President’s proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) to the final General Appropriations Act (GAA), growing by 136.08 percent in 2024 and 127.61 percent in 2025.

Lacson noted the DPWH’s CSSP was allotted P174.088 billion in the 2024 NEP, but this ballooned to P410.91 billion in the 2024 GAA.

The CSSP budget again ballooned from P221.499 billion in the 2025 NEP to P504.226 billion in the 2025 GAA.

The CSSP was allotted P167.79 billion in the 2026 NEP and this ballooned by 39.6 percent to P234.236 billion in the House General Appropriations Bill (GAB) version.

Senate finance committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian confirmed that the budget increases were “mostly congressional” and assured the body that reforms are underway.

Lacson also found that many projects listed under the Sustainable Infra Projects Alleviating Gaps program had the exact same titles as those under the Basic Infrastructure Programs, but were assigned different amounts.