MANILA, Philippines — Presidential Legislative Officer Joey Sarte Salceda on Sunday said the reforms that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had instituted led to faster completion of key infrastructure projects.
He said the latest Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) reports indicated "improvements in several important categories."
Based on DPWH’s quarterly physical report of operations, the fourth-quarter rate of bridge projects completed in accordance with plans and specifications increased from 79 percent in 2024 to 97 percent in 2025.
The comparable rate for network-development projects improved from 78 percent to 82 percent, while projects under the convergence and special support program improved from 74 percent to 80 percent.
However, Salceda warned that declining bank credit to legitimate contractors could eventually undermine these gains.
He said Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon "has acted decisively against ghost projects, substandard work and unqualified contractors" in line with the President's directive to clean-up the public works system.
“The President has already addressed procurement, contractor performance and project monitoring. We must now address the financing side," Salceda said in a statement.
The government, he said, "cannot clean up the contractor pool and then leave the legitimate contractors without sufficient working capital."
He said data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that outstanding construction loans declined from ₱591.6 billion in December 2024 to ₱477.5 billion in June 2026, a reduction of 19.3 percent.
Construction lending fell by 12.8 percent year-on-year as of June 2026, even as total bank lending for production activities grew by 9.1 percent.
“Some legitimate contractors report that bank facilities which previously covered the full or nearly full contract price are now being approved at substantially lower coverage," Salceda said.
"If a qualified contractor cannot borrow enough to mobilize equipment, purchase materials and begin construction, project completion rates will eventually suffer,” he added.
He said the government must adopt a broad, all-of-government response involving the DPWH, Department of Finance, BSP, Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines, Philippine Guarantee Corporation and the construction industry.
