President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that the 2026 national budget will no longer include fresh allocations for flood control projects, pointing out that P350 billion earmarked for the 2025 program remains unspent.
In a podcast episode aired Monday on GMA’s 24 Oras, Marcos said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will submit a revised budget to Congress. While funding for new projects has been cut, he stressed that ongoing works will continue under tighter scrutiny.
“So, there will be no budget for 2026 for flood control. Because there is P350 billion for 2025 that has not been spent. So, the work is continuous,” Marcos explained. He added that the government will focus on ensuring that designs and implementation are done correctly, instead of simply pushing more funds into the system.
The decision comes as foreign-assisted infrastructure projects under his administration face costly delays. According to Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, congressional realignments and underfunding slowed down implementation, forcing the government to pay mounting commitment fees to lenders. “Yes, there is a delay in the implementation of the projects. The commitment charges we’ve been paying have ballooned,” Pangandaman admitted before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee.
Senators Rodante Marcoleta and JV Ejercito warned that such lapses could harm the country’s credibility with multilateral and bilateral creditors, while Pangandaman confirmed that both DPWH and the Department of Transportation are under pressure to catch up.
At the same time, DBM said contractors linked to anomalous flood control projects are being removed from the government’s procurement system. Nine companies associated with Sarah Discaya have already been blacklisted, with more—including SYMS Constructions Trading and Wawao Builders—awaiting official orders from DPWH.
Marcos has ordered lifestyle checks on DPWH officials and the creation of an independent commission to probe the controversy. He vowed that “no one will be spared” in the government’s crackdown on corruption.
Meanwhile, the Makati Business Club welcomed its accreditation as an observer in the 2026 budget hearings, pledging to push for transparency and accountability in how public funds are spent.
