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December 16, 2025 | 5:47pm
MANILA, Philippines — The lone district of Navotas City ranked fifth among districts that received the largest additional allocations for infrastructure projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) following the House of Representatives’ deliberations on the proposed 2026 budget, an investigative report found.
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) referred to it as an insertion, defining it as "additional projects or allocations lodged into the budget by lawmakers," which were not originally proposed by the agency.
The DPWH initially proposed a P362 million budget for Navotas, but the allocation rose by over 200% to P1.116 billion after the House approved the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
Rep. Toby Tiangco (Navotas, lone district), who is a relative of the president, denied that the P754 million added to his district’s DPWH budget was a congressional insertion he made. As someone who is not a member of the appropriations committee, he said he wouldn't have the power to propose an insertion.
"I could not have made any insertion because I am not even a member of the Committee on Appropriations," he said in a statement on Tuesday, December 16.
Tiangco reframed the budget insertion as a restoration, explaining that based on the DPWH formula, Navotas should have had P1.410 billion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP). "This restored NEP represents the minimum assured amount per district," he added.
He also said the DPWH’s submission of only P362 million in the NEP amounted to an "unfair reduction" of P1.048 billion. After Tiangco raised the alleged miscalculation with Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon, P748 million was added as what he described as a "correction."
The total increase, however, reached P754 million, leaving an unexplained P6 million difference. Tiangco said he does not know where the additional P6 million came from.
Despite what he described as a restored DPWH allocation for Navotas, Tiangco said the final P1.116 billion budget remains P294 million short of the supposed minimum allocation of P1.410 billion.
"Wala akong tinatago. (I'm not hiding anything.) In fact, as early as October 13, 2025, I have been calling for the posting of the budgets of all districts and party-list groups for full transparency, which clearly shows that I am not hiding anything," he said.
"Kung may tinatago ako hihingin ko ba na i-publish ito? (If I were hiding anything, would I ask the budget to be published?)," he asked.
The PCIJ found that even under new leadership, the House of Representatives continues "long-standing practices" in which senior officials or their relatives receive disproportionately large allocations for their districts.
From 2023 to 2025, during the speakership of Martin Romualdez, both the districts of Romualdez and Rep. Sandro Marcos (Ilocos Norte, 1st District) ranked highest in DPWH allocations.
Under House Speaker Bojie Dy, the PCIJ found that the House-approved 2026 GAB proposed the largest additional allocation for Dy’s district in Isabela, amounting to a P2.68 billion increase. This was followed by Rep. Mikaela Suansing (Nueva Ecija, 1st District), chair of the appropriations committee, whose district received an additional P1.773 billion.
Both Dy and Suansing have yet to issue statements explaining the need for a huge congressional insertion for their respective districts.
The bicameral conference committee has been stalled for the past two days after the DPWH appealed for the restoration of P45 billion in its budget, following revisions to construction material costs across regions. The agency said the cut would affect the implementation of around 10,000 infrastructure projects.
Even on Tuesday, the scheduled 4 p.m. resumption of proceedings was delayed. On Monday, the Senate decided to postpone the hearing while it sought clarification from the DPWH, to which the agency later apologized for giving insufficient data.
