The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is promising to put an end to the country’s long list of unfinished public works, with Secretary Vince Dizon vowing to realign priorities and correct years of poor planning and fragmented funding.
During the continuation of Senate deliberations on the proposed 2026 national budget, Dizon acknowledged that many of the agency’s multi-year projects — from bridges and roads to municipal buildings — have remained incomplete due to uneven and sometimes arbitrary budget distribution.
“This is something we really want to correct,” Dizon told senators. “In the hierarchy of projects that should be funded given limited resources, we must prioritize those that remain unfinished — the half-built bridges, incomplete roads, and municipal halls without second floors.”
Since assuming office less than two months ago, Dizon said he has already encountered several stalled projects across the country.
One major example, according to Dizon, was a flood control project in Arayat, Pampanga, where a bridge remained half-built for a decade.
“We’re now scrambling to look for savings to fund that bridge and other similar projects nationwide,” he said.
He described the situation as a “recurring problem,” saying there has been “no rhyme or reason” why some projects receive larger allocations while others are left behind.
Senator Loren Legarda, however, countered that there is a rhyme and reason — one rooted in politics.
“Kung sinong malapit sa kusina, kung sinong hindi humihingi or humihinging hindi nabibigyan,” she said, alluding to how political proximity sometimes determines funding.
Dizon said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has already directed the department to focus its remaining resources on finishing incomplete projects instead of launching new ones.
“The President told me: let’s use all the money we have remaining to just finish unfinished projects,” he said.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian supported the DPWH’s plan, noting that the same issue plagues other departments, including the Department of Health’s (DOH) Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP).
“There are so many unfinished health centers, rural health units, even hospitals — wasteful projects that have been left hanging for years,” Gatchalian said.
Legarda then called for a comprehensive accounting of all incomplete and underutilized government projects, warning that the total could reach “trillions” in wasted public funds.
She noted that inefficiency is not limited to DPWH, citing examples from the National Housing Authority (NHA), where finished housing units remain unoccupied because intended beneficiaries refuse to relocate.
“In some areas, informal settlers have already moved in, while the rightful beneficiaries remain squatters elsewhere,” she added.
The senator stressed that such wastage reflects a deeper, systemic problem across agencies — one that leads to “unutilized and underutilized projects running by the trillions of pesos.”
