By the Blocktec Editorial Team
The Senate majority has publicly backed a push to remove 6,271 DPWH projects that the House added to the proposed 2027 national budget. Senator Panfilo Lacson said on November 1, 2026 that the majority bloc supports Senate Finance Committee chair JV Ejercito's effort to strip undocumented items from the House-approved 2027 General Appropriations Bill. DPWH has until November 3 to submit papers for each project, and the Senate resumes plenary work on the budget on November 9.
This follows our October 31 item on the public works budget. What has changed is that the majority has now closed ranks behind the cleanup, and the document deadline has arrived.
What The Senate Majority Said
According to reports from Philippine Star, Daily Tribune, The Manila Times and Manila Bulletin, Lacson said the majority supports removing items he described as unjustified, arbitrary and corruption-prone. He said no district would be spared. That includes the district of Ilocos Norte Representative Sandro Marcos, which received a large share of the insertions.
Lacson also said he doubts any majority senator will try to slip in pet projects. He added that the transparency rules set by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian will stay in place.
Manila Bulletin's headline captured the tone with a line from Lacson: "All means all!"
The Numbers Behind The Purge
The key figures are these:
- DPWH projects in the executive's National Expenditure Program (NEP): 11,420.
- DPWH projects in the House version of the 2027 budget: 16,244.
- New infrastructure projects counted by an audit as added by the House: 6,271.
The figures do not reconcile cleanly. The jump from 11,420 to 16,244 is 4,824 projects, while the audit counted 6,271 new ones. The reports do not explain the gap, so treat the two numbers as separate measures until officials clarify.
There is also a reference point from September. Ejercito flagged 155 flood control projects worth P8.2 billion for missing documents. The current review applies the same logic to a much larger set of projects.
The November 3 Document Deadline
Ejercito wrote to new DPWH Secretary Giovanni Lopez, giving the department until November 3 to submit three documents for each inserted project:
- a certificate of implementability,
- a program of work, and
- geotagged photos.
Projects without complete papers will be removed before plenary debate begins. In plain terms, a project must show that it can actually be built, how it will be built and costed, and where it will be built.
These document rules came from stricter checks introduced under former DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon for the 2027 NEP. Lopez and Dizon met Ejercito and pledged to help remove projects that do not comply.
Ejercito said infrastructure spending must rise without undoing the reforms. His argument is that badly vetted projects end up costing more than delayed ones.
What Happens Next
The Senate resumes plenary sessions on November 9. Full plenary debates are expected from November 23.
Ejercito plans to livestream the bicameral conference talks, where House and Senate negotiators reconcile their versions of the budget. He also wants civil society observers to be invited.
Outside the Senate, former Finance Secretary Gary Teves urged more frequent LEDAC meetings to settle disputed items. A joint statement from 27 business and civil society groups called on Congress to drop insertions that lack a technical basis.
What It Means For Builders
How many DPWH projects survive the Senate cut shapes the 2027 public building pipeline: schools, health centers and government offices that contractors will bid on. Projects with complete programs of work are the ones most likely to proceed, so those are worth tracking.
For estimators, a program of work is also an early look at scope and quantities. If you bid on public buildings, watch which projects keep their papers after November 3 and check their wall specs early, before the bicameral stage settles the final list.
Wall system choice affects both budget and schedule, and that is where we can help. Blocktec imports AAC (autoclaved aerated concrete) blocks, which are laid with thin-bed adhesive and finished with skimcoat, so there is no thick sand-cement plaster (walang palitada). A trained mason with a helper typically does about 10-12 m2 per 8-hour shift. In Blocktec's cost comparison, the wall system showed up to about 21% savings versus hollow blocks, though results depend on the project.
The AAC products are certified under the DTI-BPS Philippine Standard (License No. Q-6620) and comply with PNS ASTM C1691:2019 and ASTM C1693. They also carry a 4-hour fire resistance rating, which matters for schools and government offices.
Budget timing is still uncertain, so build your estimates now and adjust once the final project list is out.
Sources
- Philippine Star: Senate majority bloc backs budget purge (Nov 2, 2026)
- Daily Tribune: Senate Majority Backs Lacson's Call to Purge 'Pork' from 2027 Budget (Nov 2, 2026)
- Daily Tribune: JV draws line on HGAB (Oct 31, 2026)
- The Manila Times: Lacson: Senate majority to strip 2027 budget of 'pork' (Nov 2, 2026)
- Manila Bulletin: All means all! Lacson says Senate majority united in purging 2027 budget of 'pork' (Nov 1, 2026)
Tracking a 2027 public building bid? Send your wall area or blueprints to sales@blocktec.ph or blocktec.ph for a free AAC wall-system estimate.