Martin Romualdez’s Leyte home district has become the single biggest recipient of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) funding in the country, cornering P57 billion in the first three years of the Marcos presidency and overtaking the P51-billion record once held by Pulong Duterte’s Davao district.
P57 billion vs. P51 billion
From 2020 to 2022, Davao City’s 1st district, then represented by President Rodrigo Duterte’s son Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, received P51 billion in infrastructure spending, an amount then House Appropriations chair Elizaldy Co called the largest a district ever received. Now, budget records obtained by the PCIJ show Leyte 1st, represented by House Speaker and Marcos cousin Martin Romualdez, pulled in P57 billion from 2023 to 2025.
| Legislative district | Representative | Years | DPWH funds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Davao City 1st | Paolo “Pulong” Duterte | 2020-2022 | P51 billion |
| Leyte 1st | Martin Romualdez | 2023-2025 | P57 billion |
Why the numbers matter
DPWH does not publish allocations per legislative district. It handed the 2023 to 2025 breakdown to legislators, one of whom shared the document with the PCIJ. The swing, the PCIJ noted, points to political influence rather than infrastructure needs deciding where public works money lands.
Still on top after the Speaker ouster
Romualdez was replaced by Isabela 6th District Rep. Faustino “Bojie” Dy III as House Speaker last September amid the flood-control corruption scandal. Even so, DPWH documents show Leyte 1st still drew the largest 2026 allocation, around P6 billion. In the department’s resubmitted 2026 National Expenditure Program, his district started near P10 billion, with second-place Samar 2nd trailing by more than P3 billion.
Critics and the transparency push
Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste, a vocal DPWH corruption critic, ended up with the second highest allocation this year thanks to P3.7 billion in insertions. He told the PCIJ the funding grew after his repeated complaints, recounting a phone call in which a DPWH official promised his district extra money if he stopped questioning the budget.
The pork-barrel pattern is not new. A separate PCIJ report already flagged Romualdez and Ilocos Norte 1st’s Sandro Marcos as the top recipients of “allocables,” the earmarked DPWH funds now widely called the new pork. With 2027 budget deliberations opening August 17, House appropriations chair Mikaela Suansing has vowed to consult leadership on finally releasing per-district DPWH allocations to the public.
