How Much Has Been Plundered from the DPWH?

Estimates vary, but Senator Ping Lacson says as much as Php1 trillion may have been stolen. A report by the Ateneo School of Government also sheds more light on the real cost of corruption in the DPWH.

As much as half, or Php1 trillion, of the Php2 trillion Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) flood control budget may have been lost to corruption over the last 15 years, according to Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson in an interview on DZBB radio.

This number could be even larger, in the trillions of pesos, said Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon during questioning by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee in September.

Information about the size of the corruption scandal is still emerging, with more details expected from the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) probe. Meanwhile, various sectors of society have been seeking answers, with one such effort from the Ateneo School of Government (ASOG). The ASOG released a position paper on the corruption scandal.

“The magnitude of resources siphoned through these practices is not only alarming but profoundly disturbing,” the ASOG declared. The position paper is both an attempt to find more clarity and a call for greater transparency.

“We offer the following data to contribute to finding greater clarity, and deepening the level of discourse on the issue,” the ASOG said in the paper.

How Much Is the Flood Control Budget of the DPWH?

In the DZBB interview, Senator Ping Lacson cited a Php2 trillion budget for DPWH flood control projects alone in the past 15 years.

The Ateneo School of Government gave a more detailed breakdown of the DPWH’s flood control budget in the last 10 years. The size of the flood control budget has been growing steadily every year, with a budget of just Php42 billion in 2015 ballooning to Php254 billion in 2025. This makes the DPWH’s flood control budget greater than the entire budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) at Php230 billion, the Department of Health (DOH) at Php223 billion, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) at Php181 billion, and the Department of Agriculture (DA) at Php129 billion.

For the past 10 years, the flood control budget totaled Php1.4 trillion. Accounting for insertions, the 2025 flood control budget almost doubles to Php496.3 billion, the ASOG report notes, bringing the total to almost Php1.7 trillion for 10 years. This lines up more closely with Senator Lacson’s Php2 trillion 15-year total.

Flood Control at the Cost of Rural and Social Development

While it is currently difficult to put a number to the total amount plundered from the flood control budget, it is clear where the flood control budget came from and where it is being diverted to.

While the DPWH’s flood control budget steadily increased year on year, other government agencies experienced significant budget cuts in 2023, 2024 and 2025. The National Irrigation Authority, for example, had its budget cut by Php23.2 billion and the Department of Agriculture by Php22.4 billion in 2025. Php94.3 billion was then diverted to the DPWH, according to the ASOG report.

Rural development was not the only victim. The government’s social welfare programs spearheaded by agencies such as DSWD and PhilHealth had their budgets slashed by P94.3 billion and P74.4 billion respectively as the budget of the Office of the President, Office of the Vice President, Senate, and House of Representatives more than doubled or even quadrupled compared to 2016. More details can be found in the Ateneo School of Government paper.

Cost of Corruption on the Economy

Aside from the actual loss of billions or trillions from the ghost flood control projects, there is also an additional cost to the economy.

The first is in debt payment. The Ateneo School of Government paper warns that because of current spending on infrastructure, the national budget is over reliant on borrowing.

According to the ASOG paper, “debt as a percentage of GDP is 63.1% as of the end of the 2nd quarter 2025, which is above the threshold. The accumulation of debt, combined with high interest rates, will continue to increase the cost of servicing… Debt servicing will continue to eat up a significant portion of budget expenditure.”

In essence, the government borrowed money to pay for these ghost infrastructure projects and will be paying for years to come.

Finally, another cost of corruption is loss of investor confidence in the Philippine economy. Foreign investment has dropped and paired with a weakening peso, this has caused the Philippine Stock Exchange Index to fall to record lows.

In conclusion, the Ateneo School of Government calls on the ICI to carry out its investigation truthfully and all concerned agencies to support the investigation. “Public office is a public trust,” the ASOG said in its paper. “Today, the trust is broken.”

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