The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) constructs thousands of roads, bridges, buildings, and flood management structures across the country every year.
District engineering offices, which bid out and implement projects worth up to P100 million, handle the bulk of these projects. Regional offices have authority over projects worth up to P300 million. Anything beyond that figure is taken care of by the DPWH’s central office. The levels of authorities of DPWH offices are further detailed in Department Order No. 74 s. 2026.
In November, President Marcos rolled out the DPWH Transparency Portal which lists all infrastructure projects from 2016 up to the present. Recently, the department included their proposed projects for 2027.
For an ordinary citizen, navigating the website may not be the easiest if they are not aware which DPWH offices serve their areas. Here’s a three-step guide for those who want to track existing and proposed DPWH projects.
1. Identify which DPWH offices are attached to your congressional district.
There are currently about 200 district engineering offices serving the infrastructure needs of all 254 legislative districts. These smaller units, each headed by a district engineer, were organized to carry out the DPWH’s functions in an effective and efficient manner across different areas in the country.
DEOs, in effect, craft engineering plans and formulate budget costs for each project under their jurisdiction. If approved for funding in the national budget, these offices will then award these projects through public bidding, and consequently monitor the quality of the constructed infrastructure.
It was revealed in congressional hearings on the flood-control scandal, however, that some district engineers had acted as go-betweens between public works contractors and lawmakers who allegedly got kickbacks from projects they insert in the national budget.
Most engineering offices are tied to a single congressional district, while some cover multiple areas. Knowing your DEO will allow you to efficiently track projects in your area. Here’s the full list, according to documents we’ve gathered from the DPWH:
Bigger projects are likely lodged in these regional offices: Regional Office CAR, Regional Office NCR, Regional Office NIR, Regional Office I, Regional Office II, Regional Office III, Regional Office IVA, Regional Office MIMAROPA, Regional Office V, Regional Office VI, Regional Office VII, Regional Office VIII, Regional Office IX, Regional Office X, Regional Office XI, Regional Office XII, Regional Office XIII.
2. Search the projects under that office on the DPWH’s Transparency Portal.
After identifying the DPWH office of the area you want to look into, head to the DPWH’s Transparency Portal.
Enter the name of your chosen office on the corresponding field. After which, all projects under that office will pop up, together with their contract ID, contractor, approved budget, geographical coordinates, satellite images, status, and other supporting documents.
You can narrow down your search by choosing a major program of the DPWH. If you want to look at major road projects, these are under “Organizational Outcome 1: Ensure Safe and Reliable National Road System.” Flood management projects are under “Organizational Outcome 2: Protect Lives and Properties Against Major Floods.”
All other kinds of projects like local roads, multi-purpose buildings, and water systems, among others, are under the Convergence and Special Support Program and Locally-Funded Projects.
3. Verify the information against other DPWH portals.
If you want to cross-check the information you’ve gathered from the Transparency Portal, you can verify project details at the Project and Contract Management Application, an earlier project tracker of the DPWH.
The department’s main website also uploads all supporting documents for projects since 2016, including notices of award, contract agreements, and notices to proceed. These can be used to identify owners and officers of a construction company.
Has this aided our reporting?
We used this method in our latest story where we discovered that the districts of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and 16 representatives who did not back Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment got zero proposed projects under the Basic Infrastructure Program—a program where congressmen’s pork are lodged.
