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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Alan Cayetano blasts DPWH for wasting public funds

Alan Cayetano blasts DPWH for wasting public funds

Published Aug 27, 2025 06:42 pm

At A Glance

  • Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday, August 27 flagged the Department of Public Works and Highways' (DPWH) Engineering and Administrative Overhead (EAO) fund, noting that it ballooned to P94 billion from 2022 to 2025 without ensuring project quality.


Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday, August 27  flagged the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) Engineering and Administrative Overhead (EAO) fund, noting that it ballooned to P94 billion from 2022 to 2025 without ensuring project quality.

Cayetano said this resulted to wasted public funds, noting that the amount, which averages P20 billion a year, could already cover the P55-billion shortfall needed to reach the 4% of GDP target for education spending.

“Ni-research na sa DPWH pala, they have EAO na up to 3.5% for any project above P1 million, at napupunta ito sa either central office, regional director, o sa district engineer (I researched the DPWH, they have an EAO of up to 3.5% for any project above P1 million, and it goes to either the central office, regional director, or the district engineer),” Cayetano said uring the organizational meeting of the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical and Vocational Education on August 27, which he chairs.

The (EAO) is a percentage deducted from DPWH projects worth over P1 million to cover costs for testing, quality control, project management, and pre-construction activities.

Dspite these supposed purposes, Cayetano lamented that the fund failed to guarantee the integrity of projects and has even been linked to so-called “ghost projects.”

“Kung pang-testing at quality control pero wala naman palang quality at ghost project pa, sayang itong pondong ito (If it's for testing and quality control but there's no quality and considered a ghost project, this fund is a waste),” he said.

Cayetano said the fund, which averages P20 billion a year, is enough to cover the education budget gap and urged Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian to look into it.

Gatchalian currently heads the Senate Committee on Finance.

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Alan Peter Cayetano DPWH
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