Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III said he is eyeing the removal of district engineers in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), citing the possibility of restructuring as the agency is hounded with corruption controversy in connection to the flood control mess.
Sotto said this in an interview over DWIZ on Saturday after he said that restructuring, not total abolition, may be the appropriate proposal first for the DPWH amidst scandal issues.
Earlier, Senator Sherwin ‘Win’ Gatchalian said that he personally believes that it would be better to abolish the DPWH and establish a new one, as he emphasized the gravity of corruption that marred the department.
‘Let’s study that proposal, I don’t know how big the implications will be. Maybe we can restructure it first,’ Sotto, speaking in Filipino, said when asked about the said statement of Gatchalian.
‘Because the initial thing that comes to my mind that I would propose is to remove the districts. District engineers, let’s remove them. Let’s put them in the region. Regional. The first thing that will happen there is that the power of the congressman there will be lost,’ he explained.
‘When it comes to districts, that’s his district, his own. ‘No, this is my district, don’t interfere,’ right? That’s why there’s something called sagasa, there’s parking,’ he further said.
The Senate president likewise noted that the idea of removing district engineers may be better because there is also the Regional Development Council for the regional engineering offices.
`No star there’
‘There is no star there who is just a congressman or mayor or governor. There are many of them. So that will be a mixed bag,’ Sotto said.
He, meanwhile, clarified that the said idea is still under study.
Nonetheless, the Senate president is positive that there would be accountability on the corruption issue being investigated, citing that the Filipino people are observing the government.
‘Something will definitely happen there. If nothing happens there, the government will be completely liable. Yes, something will happen there, 100 percent,’ he said.
Sotto likewise said the Senate blue ribbon committee will continue investigating the flood control controversies.
Recently, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said that 421 out of 8,000 inspected flood control projects nationwide were found to be ‘ghost projects.’
Dizon said the inspection was conducted by the Department of DPWH, together with the Department of Economy, Planning and Development, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine National Police.
The DPWH secretary, meanwhile, earlier said it would be better for the agency to undergo structural reform instead of abolishment, adding that he still believes that there are still a lot of employees who are performing their roles with integrity.
‘If it turns out that every district or regional director has done wrong, so be it. But many honest people remain in this department, and we will prove that through genuine change,’ Dizon said. /mr