The P450 billion congressional insertions in the 2025  national budget became the source of massive corruption in project approvals and implementation across the agency, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Rogelio Singson said.

Singson made the statement in a meeting with DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon who is currently conducting an investigation into the alleged anomalous flood control projects in the department. Singson was joined by fellow ex-DPWH executive Jose de Jesus.

During the discussion, Singson, who led the DPWH from 2010 to 2016 under then president Benigno S. Aquino III, said many national projects listed in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) were replaced by local insertions in the General Appropriations Act (GAA), creating opportunities for misuse.

He noted that former Secretary Manuel Bonoan had been blindsided when some of his programs were stripped from the final budget.

Lawmakers, Singson added, often split large projects into smaller packages capped at P150 million, allowing them to be handled by district offices rather than regional units, a practice that increases the risk of anomalies.

He urged Dizon to focus on the top 15 contractors flagged by Malacañang and trace accountability across the procurement chain—from bids and awards committees to project inspectors and the Commission on Audit (COA).

“Mate-trace yun. Sino nag-approve? Sino bids and awards committee? Sino nag-inspect? May COA inspector dapat yan or post-audit” (There is a paper trail. Who approved it? Who are the bids and awards committee? Who inspected? There should be a COA inspector or post-audit), Singson said, stressing that these records can expose irregularities.

In response, Dizon ordered senior officials—from undersecretaries to assistant district engineers—to submit courtesy resignations and suspended bidding for pending projects while reviewing ongoing programs.

“Humihingi ako ng tulong sa mga tao who I can trust. We have to find the bad eggs, take them out, make them accountable” (I am asking for help from people I can trust. We have to find the bad eggs, take them out, and make them accountable), the DPWH chief said.

He also announced plans to seek technical support from former DPWH officials now working with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Singson and De Jesus advised Dizon to tap private sector consultants and work more closely with local government units (LGUs), which they said can implement infrastructure projects more efficiently and at lower costs.

Meanwhile, De Jesus denied authoring a viral open letter calling for a Senate probe into Senator Mark Villar’s alleged budget insertions during his DPWH tenure, saying he merely forwarded the message via Viber and stressed that such claims must be supported by evidence.

Despite the controversies, Singson emphasized that the department is not beyond redemption.

“Six years akong and’yan, may mga matitino naman d’yan. Hindi naman lahat d’yan korap” (I spent six years there, and there are still good people. Not everyone there is corrupt), he said.