MANILA — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has restored and expanded the authority of its officials to approve and sign various infrastructure-related financial transactions under a new department order, despite earlier recommendations to scale down such powers as part of anti-corruption reforms.

In a report, it said that under Department Order No. 74 signed by Public Works Secretary Vivencio Dizon on June 10, the DPWH revised the levels of authority of agency officials in financial management transactions and delegated additional approval powers within the department. The order replaced Department Order No. 104, series of 2021.

The directive states that for Central Office transactions, authority to approve Notices of Transfer of Allocation (NTA) without a monetary limit has been delegated to the Undersecretary for Support Services.

An attached authority matrix shows that regional directors, district engineers, bureau directors, service directors, and Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) officials are allowed to approve and sign various transactions, including contractor payments, consultancy contracts, equipment procurement, maintenance and operating expenses, and other infrastructure-related disbursements, subject to specified ceilings.

For contractor payments, regional directors are authorized to approve transactions of up to PHP 300 million, while district engineers may approve transactions of up to PHP 100 million. Certain Central Office and UPMO officials were also granted approval authority for transactions within their respective jurisdictions.

The issuance came months after the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) reportedly recommended reducing approval authority of regional and district officials following a review of alleged irregularities in flood control projects.

The ICI had earlier proposed lowering procurement and approval thresholds at field offices to strengthen oversight and reduce opportunities for corruption in infrastructure implementation.

However, the new department order retained approval thresholds for regional and district offices under an updated financial management framework and did not cite or explain the rationale for not adopting the ICI recommendations.