Cebu lawmakers corner P83 billion in DPWH projects since 2023

Local

SINCE 2023, Cebu’s legislators have controlled a combined P83 billion in Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) funds, revealing a new system of discretionary allocations that watchdogs compare to the outlawed pork barrel.

Documents obtained by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) show that Cebu’s representatives received P55.77 billion in “allocables” and P27.3 billion in “non-allocables”—funds technically intended for DPWH core programs but increasingly shaped by both legislators and the executive branch.

Allocables, or district-based budget ceilings that legislators can assign to projects, function as a modern version of the pork barrel.

While the government sets the total amount per district, lawmakers pick which local projects to fund, from roads and flood control systems to streetlights and other infrastructure.

Critics say the system gives legislators the same discretion they had under the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), which the Supreme Court banned in 2013.

The DPWH uses the “BBM Parametric Formula”, or the Baselined, Balanced, and Managed, to calculate each district’s ceiling, a mechanism understood in detail only by former DPWH undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, according to PCIJ.

The formula assigns funding to districts before specific projects are formally included in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) and the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Cebu’s First District, represented by Congresswoman Rhea Mae Gullas, received the largest share of allocables, who received P8.33 billion from 2023 to 2025.

Former Congressman PJ Garcia of the Third District got P6.05 billion, Former Congresswoman Janice Salimbangon of the Fourth District P5.31 billion, and Congressman Duke Frasco of the Fifth District P6.63 billion.

Districts in highly urbanized cities also saw substantial allocations: Cebu City’s First District Congressman Cutie del Mar with P4.19 billion andSouth District

Congresssman Edu Rama Jr. with P5.75 billion, Former Lapu-Lapu City Congresswoman, now mayor, Cindi Chan with P5.23 billion, and Mandaue City Congresswoman Lollipop Ouano-Dizon with P3.76 billion.

Non-allocable funds, meant for national highways, foreign-assisted projects, and other major DPWH initiatives, have similarly become arenas of legislative influence.

The Seventh District received P10.3 billion in non-allocables for 2025 alone.

Other allocations include the First District with P5.62 billion, the Second District P2.11 billion, and significant sums to Cebu City and other urBan centers.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson has criticized the system, saying “allocables” are “simply pork under a new name,” inserted into the budget even before lawmakers identify projects.

Under the current framework, district engineers coordinate directly with lawmakers, presenting project menus within their allocable ceilings.

This bypasses the Regional Development Council, which is supposed to prioritize projects based on technical need, and effectively allows legislators to select projects using public funds.(MyTVCebu)