The DPWH has caught up on paper, but the money is still not reaching projects on the ground — a hangover from the corruption scandal that has frozen public works for nearly a year.
MANILA — The national government had released 87.7 percent of the P6.793-trillion 2026 national budget as of the end of May, according to the latest Status of Allotment Release from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) — a pace that, while substantial, trails the 90.4 percent disbursed over the same period a year earlier as the government scaled back releases to executive departments.
In figures reported by the Philippine Daily Inquirer on June 18, the DBM said it released a total of P5.958 trillion in the first five months of the year, leaving roughly P835 billion in allotments still unreleased. Releases to executive departments reached P3.307 trillion, or 89.9 percent of their P3.677-trillion adjusted program — down from a 93.7-percent pace the year before.
DPWH catches up — on releases
The most closely watched agency is the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which had been among the laggards since the start of the year. According to the DBM, it has now received 96.6 percent, or P512 billion, of its P530.1-billion allocation. The faster release, the Inquirer reported, comes as the government moves to accelerate spending in the second quarter after infrastructure disbursements dragged in the first and contributed to weak economic growth.
But a released allotment is not the same as money spent. Separate DBM data cited in the same paper's June 21 reporting show that infrastructure and other capital outlays plunged 52 percent year-on-year to P41.5 billion in April, down from P85.8 billion in April 2025 — the 10th straight month of decline since the flood-control corruption scandal erupted last year. "The contraction was attributed to the weak spending performance of the DPWH," the DBM said. The agency separately estimated that the Senate investigation into the scandal derailed infrastructure projects worth P41.5 billion.
The laggards
Three major agencies remained below the 80-percent release mark as of end-May, the DBM reported. The Department of Agriculture had received only 63.6 percent, or P107.46 billion, of its P169-billion adjusted allotment — a notable shortfall at a time of double-digit rice inflation. The Department of Labor and Employment received 72.4 percent (P44.3 billion of P61.2 billion), and the Department of Energy 78.8 percent (P2.3 billion of P2.9 billion).
Special purpose funds — discretionary allocations sitting outside regular agency budgets, a category that has drawn scrutiny in past corruption controversies — recorded the lowest release rate at 54.2 percent, or P389.6 billion of P719.4 billion. Automatic appropriations reached 89.6 percent (P2.15 trillion of P2.4 trillion), with remaining balances attributed largely to net lending, interest payments and tax expenditures.
Why it matters
The numbers carry direct consequences for ordinary Filipinos. Infrastructure spending is one of the government's main levers for growth and job creation, and its prolonged slump — now nearly a year long — has weighed on the broader economy at a time when inflation remains elevated and the peso trades near record lows. The DBM has framed 2026 as a "recalibration" year; the May data suggest the recalibration is being felt as slower releases to line departments and a public-works engine still struggling to turn appropriations into completed projects.
Context
The slowdown traces to the flood-control corruption scandal that broke into public view after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. highlighted anomalies in infrastructure projects in his 2025 State of the Nation Address. The ensuing Senate investigation, which implicated lawmakers and contractors and triggered a leadership upheaval in the chamber, effectively froze a large swath of DPWH activity. Several senators and contractors now face plunder and graft cases before the Sandiganbayan, and the Ombudsman has named former Speaker Martin Romualdez the "purported mastermind" of the scheme. The fiscal picture also remains tight: government debt is projected to top P19 trillion by the end of 2026, and the administration is targeting some P2.68 trillion in fresh borrowing to plug a deficit it has pegged at about 5.3 percent of GDP.
Sources
- Nyah Genelle C. De Leon, "Gov't releases nearly 88% of 2026 budget; DPWH picks up pace," Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 18, 2026 — https://business.inquirer.net/595801/govt-releases-nearly-88-of-2026-budget-dpwh-picks-up-pace
- Dianne Sampang, "Gov't picks Robredo for special projects," Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 21, 2026 (DBM infrastructure-outlay and P41.5-billion figures) — https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2249772/govt-picks-robredo-for-special-projects
- "PH debt stock projected to hit P19T by end of 2026," Philippine Daily Inquirer — https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2170421/ph-debt-stock-projected-to-hit-p19t-by-end-of-2026