Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste has doubled down on his appeal for Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon to lower project costs by 25 percent in an effort to prevent kickbacks.

Leviste made this reiteration in an open letter to Dizon even as he noted that the House of Representatives would vote on the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or proposed national budget for 2026 on second reading this Friday, Oct. 10.

“The budget is the source of corruption in DPWH, because its above-market prices allow for supposed 20-30 percent kickbacks, and these prices are set by DPWH. Lowering the prices in the budget prevents kickbacks. Not lowering the prices, while knowing they are high, is tantamount to approving kickbacks," Leviste wrote.

To justify his call, Leviste reiterated to Dizon the massive savings that government would be able to collect and use for sectors like education.

“A 25 percent reduction would cut the price of projects in DPWH’s 2026 budget from P600 billion to P450 billion. P150 billion in savings could fund 60,000 classrooms across the country and show that real change has come to DPWH.”

Over the past weeks, Leviste has been auditing existing overpriced DPWH projects in his district, including Cat’s Eye projects costing over P24,000 per unit; solar streetlights costing over P233,000 per unit; and slope protection costing over P45,000 per square meter.

He has also flagged such projects in his district’s proposed 2026 DPWH budget, including an asphalt overlay project costing over P101.5 million per kilometer and diversion road project costing over P186.1 million per kilometer.

Seeking transparency, Leviste also asked DPWH to disclose the information that had been committed to be provided in the Sept. 17 budget hearing, including:

- Each congressional district’s budget in the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP), and the P75 billion in “convergence” and “asset preservation” projects added in the time of Secretary Dizon;

- The computation of “allocable” budget for each congressman, and the projects in each district “non-allocable” that were proposed by someone else; and

- The proponents for any given project in DPWH’s submitted budget.

Leviste noted that during the recent budget hearings, DPWH said that it was not aware that insertions were made in the NEP--the precursor of the GAB that emanates from Malacañang.

"But former DPWH officials have admitted to projects being inserted in the NEP, to payments even being made for projects to be in the NEP, and even to the existence of a 'leadership fund'," the neophyte congressman said.

"It is now an open secret that projects proposed by politicians as well as 'contractor-sponsored' projects are widespread in the NEP,” he said.

The Batangueño commended DPWH for removing some questionable projects from the 2026 budget, but emphasized that overpricing extends well beyond the controversial flood control projects.

“Secretary Dizon has the opportunity to show that the 2026's budget will be truly different from 2025's. Lowering prices and being fully transparent on the 2026 DPWH budget will send a clear message that real change has come to DPWH,” he underscored.

Leviste vowed to continue working with the DPWH “to prove that DPWH can build projects without sacrificing quality at 25 percent lower cost as long as there is no SOP (kickbacks)".