Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste has made public what he described as a summary file of the proposed 2025 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways, which he said originated from former DPWH undersecretary Catalina Cabral before her death.
Leviste said the document lists DPWH projects per congressional district classified as “allocable,” with a total nationwide amount of P401.3 billion.
According to Leviste, the same file shows that the overall DPWH budget for 2025 reached P1.041 trillion after the inclusion of what he referred to as “outside allocable” funds. These amounts, he said, came from various proponents and budget amendments or insertions from the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Bicameral Conference Committee and the National Expenditure Program.
In a statement accompanying his post, Leviste said the document came from a separate DPWH source and has already been used by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. He said the file matches the copy previously given to him by the late Undersecretary Cabral, which he said supports the accuracy of the figures.
Leviste explained that not all projects listed under a congressional district are allocable to the district’s representative. He said the document shows that “outside allocable” projects often account for a larger share of the budget and are usually not initiated by the district congressman.
He clarified that the presence of district representatives’ names in the document does not mean they were the proponents of the entire budget listed for their districts.
Leviste also stressed that the budget amounts cited are intended for DPWH infrastructure projects and not for individual proponents.
As of publication, no response from the DPWH or other government agencies was included. No allegations or legal actions were announced in relation to the release of the document.
