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Neil Jayson Servallos - The Philippine Star
March 9, 2026 | 12:00am
Department of Public Works and Highways.
Businessworld / File
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has yet to bid out any infrastructure project under the 2026 national budget as of this month, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said yesterday as he warned that sluggish government spending combined with the ongoing oil crisis could derail the country’s economic recovery.
In a radio interview on dzBB, Gatchalian shared the initial findings of the Senate finance committee’s oversight on the government’s mandatory transparency portals, noting a glaring delay in the DPWH’s procurement pipeline.
“To be honest, we are reviewing documents in DPWH, it’s March already but they have not bid anything under the new budget,” Gatchalian said.
The senator suggested that the DPWH is likely still burning through unspent funds from the previous year, following a massive slowdown in disbursements caused by the 2025 flood control controversies.
“That’s what we in oversight are looking at because we were surprised that it’s March already. In fairness, I think what they are doing is spending from the previous year first,” he explained.
“If we can recall, in 2025 they almost did not spend anything for the 2nd half, there are many funds left over from 2025. Many of those are just being bid now, so those funds for 2026 are still untouched,” he added.
Gatchalian was referring to the infrastructure spending slowdown experienced last year when corruption schemes in the flood control scam were exposed during congressional inquiries.
With the government acting as the main driver of the economy, Gatchalian warned that delayed infrastructure spending will severely hamper growth, stressing the Philippines already missed its target last year, posting a sluggish 4.4 percent growth rate.
As bureaucratic delays compound the escalating Middle East crisis, Gatchalian admitted he does not expect the country to hit its five percent economic growth target this year.
“I am not optimistic in my personal analysis. I don’t think we will hit the target. Hopefully I’m wrong but the price of oil is important for us,” he said.
DA, DepEd praised
Gatchalian praised other agencies for properly executing the special transparency provisions mandated by the General Appropriations Act.
He specifically commended the Department of Agriculture (DA) for having the most detailed transparency portal among the agencies handling big-ticket items.
“In the DA, they have a good transparency portal. The FMR (farm-to-market roads) are uploaded there, the price, the location, very detailed. In fact, that is the best transparency portal I saw out of all the big-ticket items,” Gatchalian said.
The Department of Education (DepEd) also received passing marks for launching its own portal, which tracks the P80-billion allocation for classroom construction and repairs.
“We started doing oversight in the education sector and in fairness to DepEd they opened their own transparency portal,” he noted. “They uploaded their partnership with LGU, partnership with CSOs, they uploaded it, even if it’s slow.”
