The rehabilitation of EDSA, the 23.8-kilometer circumferential highway in Metro Manila that connects six cities from Caloocan to Pasay and is infamous for its horrendous traffic, is progressing ahead of schedule at a project cost PHP 5.8 billion—only about a third of the PHP17 billion allocated by the previous administration.
Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon said in a presentation at the General Membership Meeting of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) on the topic “Addressing the Metro Manila Traffic Crisis” on Wednesday where he reported on the progress of the country’s major road projects.
Dizon said that the original plan for the rehabilitation of EDSA by the previous administration was a budget of PHP17 billion over two and half years, but President Marcos was aghast at the staggering cost and instructed him to find a better and cheaper way to fix the sorry state of EDSA.
“So we went to the drawing board,” he said, where they discussed with a team of young engineers at the DPWH, and consulted the Japanese and Korean contractors, who all agreed “We don’t have to spend PHP17 billion.”
“So, that PHP17 billion for the entire EDSA, from Roxas Boulevard to Monumento, will now just cost us PHP5.8 billion, just a third of the original budget,” he said, noting the new team was also able to bring down the cost of materials.
Dizon said that among the DPWH reforms is to bring down overpriced cost of materials by up to 50 percent.
More importantly, he said, the EDSA rehab is not going to take two and a half years. The rehabilitation started only in December 2025, utilizing 24/7 works during holidays and nighttime reblocking (10 p.m. to 4 a.m.) to minimize disruption.
Phase 1 – covering Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City to Orense Street in Makati City— is “practically finished” and about two months ahead of schedule. While roadwork on the main carriageway is done, sidewalk improvements and lane marking additions are expected to continue until July 2026. The DPWH is enhancing the EDSA sidewalk to a minimum of 2 meters, although some areas are up to five meters wide.
“We’re now in the process of bidding out Phase 2, which is Orense all the way to Monumento. And we feel that we can finish this by next year. And it will all look and feel beautiful,” he said.
