Metro Manila, Philippines – Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said on Monday, July 20, said he will cooperate with any investigation over his supposed involvement in alleged irregularities related to the country’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) under the Duterte administration.
“Malinis ang konsensya natin, at naniniwala tayo na napakaayos nung mga facilities na ‘yan, at napakaayos ng pagkakagawa,” he said, in a chance interview at the inspection of the rehabilitation of the Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA).
[Translation: My conscience is clean. We believe the facilities were well-established.]
Dizon oversaw the construction of the sports facilities for the regional meet as then president and chief executive officer of the Bases and Conversion Development Authority.
Controversies surrounding the SEA Games resurfaced after National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Melvin Matibag said the agency will look again into the funding anomalies concerning the New Clark City Sports Complex in Tarlac.
Dizon said he will cooperate with the NBI should he be summoned, while standing by the quality of the sports facilities.
“Ginagamit yan ng mga atleta natin, lalo na yung mga nag-aaral nating mga atleta sa National Academy of Sports. Ngayon lang tayo nagkaroon ng mga world-class facilities,” he told reporters.
[Translation: Our athletes use those, especially our student-athletes at the National Academy of Sports. It’s only now that we’ve finally had world-class facilities.]
Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman said the Dizon complaint related to the project was dismissed in December 2021 for insufficient evidence.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who chaired the then Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee, earlier questioned the reopening of the investigation, claiming intimidation against him as a senator-judge in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
