On last day at ICI, Singson grills DBM for approving unready projects

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December 15, 2025 | 6:01pm

MANILA, Philippines — The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) questioned the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) over the inclusion of projects in the national budget that are not ready for implementation.

On his last day as ICI commissioner on Monday, December 15, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Rogelio Singson pressed Acting Budget Secretary Rolando Toledo on possible gaps in the budgeting process.

Singson asked how the DBM ensures that projects proposed by agencies during the preparation of the National Expenditure Program (NEP) are ready for implementation before being included in the executive’s budget proposal.

Singson cited an example raised by Education Secretary Sonny Angara, who had reported receiving funding for school feeding programs despite a lack of kitchen facilities to produce the food. Angara had also flagged allocations for book printing even though there were not enough printers in the regions.

“Obviously, they have over-budgeted,” Singson said.

Singson said similar issues persist in infrastructure projects, pointing to recurring delays caused by right-of-way problems and incomplete engineering designs.

Despite these issues, he said, such projects still find their way into the NEP.

“Many of them that are included are not ready for implementation,” Singson said.

Utilization rate questioned

The former DPWH chief also criticized the DBM’s use of budget utilization rates to assess agency performance, calling the system faulty.

He said agencies given excessive funding for projects that are not ready to proceed end up with lower utilization rates, which in turn reflects poorly on their performance ratings.

A high utilization rate does not necessarily indicate effective or productive spending, Singson added.

"It’s a race to see who spends the fastest regardless of how the money is spent, which I think we have found out, the best performer is Bulacan District 1," Singson said.

With or without papers or documentation, the district was reportedly able to spend around P2 billion a month, Singson said in Filipino.

Warning on ‘ghost projects’

The DPWH Bulacan First District is the among the hubs of the infrastructure corruption scandal, with hundreds of millions of pesos suspected to have been stolen through ghost flood control projects. 

Singson warned that unless the rating system is changed, similar abuses could recur.

“If we don’t change that, ghost projects will surge past us again,” he said.

DBM response. In response, Toledo said the DBM is also working to reduce the inclusion of unprepared projects in the budget.

He said locally implemented projects must be developed in coordination with Regional Development Councils to ensure readiness and alignment with development priorities.