How Speaker Dy Turned the DPWH into His Personal Billion-Peso ATM—And Called It “Due Process”

The Suansing Sisters’ Bonus Round: Because Family Deserves the Biggest Cuts

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — December 19, 2025

MGA ka-kweba, fellow citizens, fellow taxpayers who have been fleeced,

Just days after the bicameral conference that was supposedly “transparent” and “livestreamed,” the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) report came out: The district of House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III in Isabela received the largest +P2.68 billion insertion in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget—from P1.1 billion in the original proposal to P3.78 billion in the House version. Not only that: House Appropriations Chair Mikaela Suansing and her sister Bella Vanessa were also at the top, with their districts suddenly ballooning by more than double. And according to PCIJ, nearly two-thirds of the entire DPWH budget in the House came from these “insertions” (Latoza, 14 Dec. 2025).

And the House’s response? “No secret insertions! The deliberations were public! Livestreamed even!” Accompanied by Rep. Suansing’s smile, as if livestreaming thousands of budget pages equates to transparency. Ah, this must be the new euphemism: What used to be “pork barrel” is now just “adjustments,” or “restorations,” or “responses to local needs.” Linguistic gymnastics worthy of the Olympics—if these were the Olympics of hypocrisy.

**“Livestreamed looting: now with 4K resolution and zero accountability!”**

The Theater of the Absurd

Imagine this: On one side, districts suddenly enriched by P2-3 billion in infrastructure funds that the DPWH itself didn’t even request. On the other, House leaders boasting that everything followed “due process.” Public hearings! Livestreamed! Nothing hidden! But where are the project specifics? Where is the justification beyond “because my district needs it”? Nowhere. Still lump sums, district-specific, as if the DPWH is the personal ATM of Speaker Dy and the Suansing sisters.

And DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon? Suddenly sending a letter to the Senate to “restore” the cuts due to “updated Construction Materials Price Data (CMPD)” to avoid underspending. Technical justification, they say. But the timing: Post-midterms, pre-2028 presidential elections. How convenient to have a “technical shield” to bring back funds that could be used for political maneuvering.

Motivational Forensics: Not Just Patronage, This Is Political Currency

Let’s not be naive. This isn’t merely “rewards for allies” or “shoring up the speakership.” This is pre-funding of electoral war chests. After the 2025 midterms, while waiting for 2028, these billions in DPWH lines could pave the way for overpriced contracts, kickbacks, and visible projects with tarpaulins saying “Courtesy of Cong. X.” Dy, as Speaker, needs to maintain the loyalty of committee chairs and allies—and what better way than to give them their own pork… I mean, “adjustments”?

And Secretary Dizon? His “costing” plea looks like a technical cover for political restoration. Is the DPWH a willing conduit, as in the past? Yes, because this department has long been a bottomless pit for overpricing and laundering funds.

Legal Arson: Time to Burn the Excuses

We don’t just list laws—we weaponize them.

First, Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act), Section 3(e): Granting unwarranted benefits to one’s own district through manifest partiality is graft, pure and simple. Undue injury to the government, unwarranted benefit to the politician—check and check. If there’s evidence of overpricing or ghost projects in these insertions, straight to the Sandiganbayan.

Second, 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article VI, Section 25(1):

“Congress may not increase the appropriations recommended by the President as specified in the budget.”

The original National Expenditure Program (NEP) is the baseline—no unlimited additions allowed, especially for operations. But here, the House added massively to DPWH districts not requested by the executive. Violation? The argument is strong.

Third, the ghost of Belgica v. Ochoa (G.R. No. 208566, November 19, 2013): The Supreme Court killed the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) because of post-enactment legislator control and lump sums without specifics. Now it’s pre-enactment, they say, but still district-specific lump sums without detailed projects. This is a shadow pork system—the spirit of Belgica is being mocked. If someone petitions the Supreme Court (SC), it will likely fall again.

And Sen. Ping Lacson? His warning in the bicam—that restoring items not in either version would open the floodgates to insertions—is a principled stand. Is he a lone voice in a Senate historically complicit? Yes, but thank goodness someone is reminding us that the fight isn’t over post-Belgica.

Systemic Evisceration: The Corruption Operating System of the House

This isn’t about individual corrupt people—it’s an institutional corruption architecture. The House of Representatives has a built-in feature: discretionary insertions as currency of power. The Bicameral Conference Committee (Bicam) is the backroom where this software gets updated—where new items not in the House or Senate version can be slipped in.

The “transparency” farce? Livestreamed hearings with thousands of budget pages—a pantomime. Deliberate opacity to hide the details. And the DPWH? Not a victim—a willing partner. Perennial conduit for infrastructure kickbacks. Dizon’s “restore” plea is part of this ecosystem: Give legislators an excuse to bring back the pork.

Consequences & Catastrophes

What is the price? National projects starved of funds—health, education, real nationwide flood control. Inferior, overpriced infrastructure that will collapse in the first typhoon. And the worst: The metastasis of cynicism. When people see nothing has changed post-scandal, they lose faith in democracy. This is more dangerous than any single anomaly—it kills votes, participation, hope.

Prescriptive Fury: Not Suggestions, These Are Demands

If we’re serious about reform, half-measures won’t do. These are imperatives:

Pass a law banning district-specific line-item insertions by sitting legislators. Period. No exceptions.
Full, machine-readable, project-level disclosure of the NEP, General Appropriations Bill (GAB), and Bicam outputs—72 hours before any vote. So the public and media can easily scrutinize.
Constitutionally amend the Bicam rules: Prohibit any item not in the House or Senate version. Make Lacson’s warning ironclad.
Citizen-led audit movement, empowered by Freedom of Information (FOI): Name and shame every anomalous allocation. File cases. Pressure the Office of the Ombudsman and SC.

Fellow citizens, this money comes from us—from our taxes, from our hardships. It is not the personal piggy bank of those in power. It is time to get angry the right way, demand loudly, and not stop until this system is dismantled.

Rage on, fellow defrauded taxpayers—someone has to pay for their roads,

–Barok