By Darryl John Esguerra

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is determined to recover funds for foreign-assisted projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) following significant budget cuts in the 2025 national budget.
In a meeting in Malacañang on Thursday, Marcos discussed the DPWH’s budget review under the Fiscal Year 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
The President noted a considerable shortfall in the DPWH’s funding request.
“We asked for PHP70 billion and they (lawmakers) gave us PHP23 billion,” Marcos said, stressing the need to focus on projects that “will make a difference to people’s lives.”
The budget for the DPWH in the 2025 GAA was slashed across several key programs, including payments for right-of-way (ROW) issues, contractual obligations, taxes, and feasibility studies.
Other affected areas include the KATUPARAN Program, which supports infrastructure projects like roads and airports, as well as the agency’s Bridge Program, Tourism Road Infrastructure Program (TRIP), and Roads Leveraging Linkages of Industry and Trade (ROLL-IT) Program.
Foreign-assisted projects were also among those seeing significant cuts.
Despite these reductions, the total budget for the DPWH saw a net increase of PHP188.8 billion —up by nearly 21 percent— rising from PHP900 billion in the proposed National Expenditure Program to PHP1.088 trillion in the approved GAA.
Marcos also instructed the DPWH to prioritize the maintenance of existing projects, resolving ROW issues, and completing necessary feasibility studies.
The President has been meeting key government agencies to review projects that were defunded in the 2025 national budget. (PNA)