Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon has committed to investigate allegations that members of his leadership team may have connections with contractors, following concerns raised by a House appropriations official.
The issue surfaced during a Thursday press conference when Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, called on Dizon and his team to disclose any ties with contractors in the interest of transparency and public trust.
Responding to the concerns during a separate briefing, Dizon expressed ‘openness to investigating’ the matter while maintaining that he is unaware of any such connections among his undersecretaries.
‘I am open to any information you can provide me,’ Dizon said. ‘If Congressman Leviste can point out who and what the details are. my commitment is to fire that person immediately and if needed, file cases.’
He also categorically denied being approached by contractors seeking favors since assuming office in early September.
‘The only contractors I’ve spoken to are those I’ve reprimanded,’ he said.
When Dizon assumed his post as public works chief on September 2, he brought in a ‘handpicked’ team of undersecretaries drawn from various government agencies and the private sector as part of his reform agenda.
These appointments are now at the center of Leviste’s transparency call, though Dizon has defended their backgrounds and ‘vouched’ for their ‘integrity.’
Rico Bernabe came from the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and has no known contractor connections. General Ato Bisnar, from the Office of Transportation Security, was cited by Dizon for his integrity. General Charles Kalima came from San Miguel Corp. Nick Conti previously headed the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) during the Aquino administration. Raffy Turgano is a lawyer from private practice, while Arrey Perez previously worked with Dizon at the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) before moving to Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC).
‘Their background is out in the open and I handpicked them. When I brought them here, I vouched for them because I know them personally and they came from known companies and government agencies,’ he said.
Nevertheless, he vowed to conduct an investigation into his own team.
‘I will investigate them on my own,’ he said.
Dizon also pointed out that Leviste’s remarks were based off of a ‘rumor’ since Leviste only ‘heard’ of the information from another party. However, he said it ‘is important’ that he ‘gets to the bottom of this.’
‘I will never tolerate it and they will be immediately removed from the post,’ Dizon said.
Leviste acknowledged that his concerns were based on information from multiple unnamed sources, including at least one person ‘among those accused’ in the ongoing flood control project scandal that has gripped the department.
While praising Dizon as a ‘reformer’ who has ‘done a much better job than his predecessor,’ Leviste insisted that ‘because of the public sentiment right now, no one should be beyond scrutiny.’
Dizon has been leading a sweeping investigation into alleged ghost projects and corruption in the DPWH since taking office, following a presidential directive to clean the agency ‘from top to bottom.’
‘Even if the DPWH runs out of people-district engineers, regional directors, undersecretaries-we will remove and file cases against them. We want to have a truly clean agency,’ he said.
He also emphasized the importance of accountability creating deterrence, citing the numerous cases filed against former public works officials and employees as well as contractors.
‘What’s important is that people should be afraid now that there will be consequences for stealing,’ he said. ‘If there are any who slipped through before I came in, we will catch you.’
So far, the agency has uncovered 421 ghost projects out of the 8,000 initially validated.
To recall, the government started the crackdown on alleged ghost projects after President Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address in July.
Since then, investigations into the flood control corruption scandal have implicated numerous lawmakers, contractors, public works officials, and auditors.
Some have been charged with graft and malversation cases.