Department of Public Works and Highways
The Department of Public Works and Highways (Filipino: Kagawaran ng mga Pagawain at Lansangang Bayan), abbreviated as DPWH, is the executive department of the Philippine government solely vested with the Mandate to “be the State's engineering and construction arm” and, as such, it is “tasked to carry out the policy” of the State to “maintain an engineering and construction arm and continuously develop its technology, for the purposes of ensuring the safety of all infrastructure facilities and securing for all public works and highways the highest efficiency and the most appropriate quality in construction” and shall be responsible for “(t)he planning, design, construction and maintenance of infrastructure facilities, especially national highways, flood control and water resources development systems, and other public works in accordance with national development objectives,” provided that, the exercise of which “shall be decentralized to the fullest extent feasible.” [2]
Department overview
June 23, 1898 (under the First Republic)
January 30, 1981 (present form)
₱718.4 billion (2023) 
[1]
- Manuel Bonoan, Secretary
- Carlos G. Mutuc, Chief of Staff, Office of the Secretary and Undersecretary for Special Concerns
Declared state policy on public works and highways[edit]
The State shall maintain an engineering and construction arm and continuously develop its technology, for the purposes of ensuring the safety of all infrastructure facilities and securing for all public works and highways the highest efficiency and the most appropriate quality in construction. The planning, design, construction and maintenance of infrastructure facilities, especially national highways, flood control and water resources development systems, and other public works in accordance with national development objectives, shall be the responsibility of such an engineering and construction arm. However, the exercise of this responsibility shall be decentralized to the fullest extent feasible.[4]
Mandate of the DPWH[edit]
The Department of Public Works and Highways shall be the State's engineering and construction arm and is tasked to carry out the policy enunciated above (Section 2, Ibid.).
Powers and functions of the DPWH[edit]
The department, in order to carry out its mandate, shall: (1) Provide technical services for the planning, design, construction, maintenance, or operation of infrastructure facilities; (2) Develop and implement effective codes, standards, and reasonable guidelines to ensure the safety of all public and private structures in the country and assure efficiency and proper quality in the construction of public works; (3) Ascertain that all public works plans and project implementation designs are consistent with current standards and guidelines; (4) Identify, plan, secure funding for, program, design, construct or undertake prequalification, bidding, and award of contracts of public works projects with the exception only of specialized projects undertaken by Government corporate entities with established technical capability and as directed by the President of the Philippines or as provided by law; (5) Provide the works supervision function for all public works constructions and ensure that actual construction is done in accordance with approved government plans and specifications; (6) Assist other agencies, including the local governments, in determining the most suitable entity to undertake the actual construction of public works projects; (7) Maintain or cause to be maintained all highways, flood control, and other public works throughout the country except those that are the responsibility of other agencies as directed by the President of the Philippines or as provided by law; (8) Provide an integrated planning for highways, flood control and water resource development systems, and other public works; (9) Classify road and highways into national, regional, provincial, city, municipal, and barangay roads and highways, based on objective criteria it shall adopt; provide or authorize the conversion of roads and highways from one category to another; and (10) Delegate, to any agency it determines to have the adequate technical capability, any of the foregoing powers and functions; and (11) Perform such other functions as may be provided by law (Section 3, Ibid.).
The department is headed by the Secretary of Public Works and Highways (Philippines), with the following nine undersecretaries and seven assistant secretaries