Dizon demands DPWH courtesy resignations, permanent ban on erring contractors

Metro Manila, Philippines - New Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered a sweeping revamp of the entire beleaguered agency to submit courtesy resignations as part of an anti-corruption drive and vowed to impose lifetime blacklisting of contractors behind so-called ghost and below quality projects.

A day after he took his oath to replace Manuel Bonoan, Dizon said the directive was in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s marching orders to clean up the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) after a series of alleged anomalies involving flood control projects.

“Ang iyong galit ng ating pangulo ay kailangan… ang sabi niya, kailangang mag-translate na into concrete action,” Dizon told reporters in a palace press briefing on Monday.

[Translation: The anger of our president must translate into concrete action]

He said he would immediately order the submission of courtesy resignations from undersecretaries down to the district engineers nationwide.

“This is the first order of the president: to clean the DPWH, top to bottom. This is the start,” Dizon said.

He said he would conduct a “painstaking review” of personnel to identify honest and capable employees to be placed in sensitive positions.

He vowed to hold accountable agency personnel and contractors linked to anomalous projects.

“For ghost projects and substandard projects, contractors will face lifetime blacklisting, effective immediately. If a project is proven to be ghost or substandard, there will be no investigation needed — they will automatically be blacklisted for life,” Dizon said, adding that cases will be endorsed to the independent commission that Marcos will create.

The secretary also announced a review of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB), which oversees licensing and accreditation, saying systemic flaws have abetted abuse. PCAB is an agency attached to the Department of Trade and Industry and is one of the implementing boards in the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines.

“Kailangan ito lahat ayusin, lahat ito kailangang baguhin,” he said.

[Translation: All of this needs to be fixed, all of this needs to be changed.]

Dizon acknowledged that public trust in the agency was at an all-time low, but noted that reforms must begin immediately.

“It won’t be solved overnight. This will take time because it has taken decades for corruption and neglect to pile up,” he said.

“‘Enough is enough,’ the president said. We have to fix this once and for all,” Dizon said.

He also said lifestyle checks on DPWH officials will proceed in line with the president’s directive for a government-wide review.

Dizon said addressing the problems will be hard work.

“It’s not going to solve everything. Hindi po magic ito na mawawala na lang ang baha sa susunod na buwan,” he said.

[Translation: This is not magic where floods will just disappear by next month.]

“There is no silver bullet. But we have to start now,” said Dizon.