Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

Chalssea Kate Echegoyen

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1785118552948viber_image_2026-06-15_09-26-53 (3).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. joins leaders of the Catholic Church and members of the diplomatic community at the reception commemorating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the Holy See at the Ayuntamiento de Manila in Intramuros on April 8, 2026. <em>Handout/Presidential Communications Office/File</em><br/></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon on Monday defended the Marcos administration&#x27;s anti-corruption campaign in the agency, citing ongoing criminal cases, institutional reforms, and personnel changes nearly a year after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. publicly condemned alleged anomalies in flood control projects.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/27/solving-corruption-economic-woes-expected-to-shape-marcos-final-two-years-0600">SONA 2026: Solving corruption and economic woes expected to shape Marcos&#x27; final two years</a></div><p>Dizon said the administration has continued pursuing accountability while implementing reforms designed to prevent similar irregularities from happening again.</p><p>Last year, Marcos publicly denounced in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) the alleged corruption in flood control projects after severe flooding exposed questionable infrastructure spending, telling officials involved, &quot;You should be ashamed.&quot;</p><p>Dizon said the administration has focused on both prosecuting those involved and reforming the system.</p><p>&quot;The president himself is responsible for [exposing] this huge and outrageous theft of funds from our countrymen last year. He himself said in front of congressmen, in front of senators, in front of the people, that you should be ashamed of what happened,&quot; Dizon said.</p><p>He added that residents in flood-hit communities continue to demand both accountability and solutions.</p><p>&quot;I myself was there... Our countrymen are really pitiful. And rightly so, they are demanding for accountability. And more than accountability, they are demanding solutions,” Dizon added.</p><p>Dizon said Marcos instructed law enforcement agencies to pursue cases wherever the evidence leads.</p><p>&quot;The president is relentless, relentless in his efforts to first of all, answer what should be answered, whoever it is, where the evidence is going, what he said to the Ombudsman, he said to DOJ (Department of Justice), he said to all law enforcement agencies, we will go there, whoever it is.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>SUSPECTED PROJECTS ‘UNDER REVIEW’</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Dizon said authorities initially identified more than 400 suspected ghost flood control projects, with roughly 60 to 70 percent already reviewed and referred to the Office of the Ombudsman.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/27/-hindi-siya-titigil-dizon-says-marcos-to-highlight-continued-anti-corruption-campaign-in-sona-0908">&#x27;Hindi siya titigil&#x27;: Dizon says Marcos to highlight continued anti-corruption campaign in SONA</a></div><p>&quot;Like I said, the initial count of suspected [projects] were 400-plus. We have since reviewed all of that and we are roughly about 60-70 percent done,&quot; he said.</p><p>He added that more than 200 flood control-related cases are currently active, while more than 100 individuals are either detained or undergoing case build-up.</p><p>&quot;To date, more than 100 people are either in jail or have an ongoing case build-up,” he added.</p><p>Dizon said the DPWH assists the Ombudsman, DOJ, and Commission on Audit by gathering documents and evidence needed for prosecution.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>MARKET PRICES</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Apart from criminal cases, Dizon outlined several reforms introduced within the DPWH.</p><p>He said one major change involved revising official construction material prices to match prevailing market rates.</p><p>&quot;The main source of fraud is overpricing.. It&#x27;s been decades, and the price of DPWH materials is always higher than the price of other developers such as SM, Alala, etc. We&#x27;ve changed that. We lowered the price of DPWH to match the market price,” he said.</p><p>He said the new pricing standards have been publicly posted, making them more difficult to reverse.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s already posted on the DPWH website. It&#x27;s already known by all of our countrymen. It&#x27;s already known by all of the NGOs,” he said.</p><p>Dizon also said projects are now required to have complete engineering plans and documentation before they receive funding.</p><p>&quot;Everything must be documented. Everything must have proof of documents,” he added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>UNDERPERFORMING OFFICIALS</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Dizon said reforms also include replacing underperforming officials. He said district engineers who fail to comply with the agency&#x27;s reforms will be removed.</p><p>&quot;If they don&#x27;t want to, they will be removed,” he said.</p><p>&quot;Now, our procurements are live on the internet. We are monitored by our NGOs. We signed several agreements, not only with NGOs, but with the church itself, with the CBCP and other NGOs in the localities, to monitor that,” he added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>ROMUALDEZ REFERRAL </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Dizon also addressed questions regarding the Ombudsman&#x27;s supplemental complaint involving former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.</p><p>He rejected suggestions that investigators acted only recently, saying the DPWH had already submitted documents recommending criminal charges months earlier.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/24/ombudsman-seeks-preliminary-probe-vs-romualdez-co-for-plunder-money-laundering-1240">mbudsman panel seeks preliminary probe vs Romualdez, Co for plunder, bribery, money laundering</a></div><p>&quot;I will just remind you and maybe the public that in November, we already filed a referral recommending charges of plunder, bribery, and other crimes against the former speaker and former congressman Zaldy Co in November of last year,” he said.</p><p>He declined to discuss details of the evidence, saying the matter is now before the Ombudsman.</p><p>He added that “the Congress has the power to change the contents of that budget.&quot;</p><p>Asked whether he believed Romualdez could eventually be arrested, Dizon said he trusts Marcos&#x27; commitment to follow the evidence.</p><p>&quot;I believe that our President will prove what he said that whoever it is, my son, my friend, my ally, whoever it is, where the evidence will go, that&#x27;s where we will go,” he said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>FLOOD CONTROL REMAINS PRIORITY</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Dizon said the DPWH continues to prioritize repairing damaged flood control infrastructure, particularly in Bulacan.</p><p>He said the agency has begun repairing defective flood control structures.</p><p>&quot;We are fixing it. In fact, we started fixing it already several months ago. In May, we started closing the gaps,” he said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/7/27/beyond-inflation-four-years-into-marcos-term-bsp-quietly-rewrites-rules-of-ph-finance-0835">Beyond Inflation: Four years Into Marcos&#x27; term, BSP quietly rewrites rules of PH finance</a></div><p>&quot;The problem with DPWH before, they made flood control substandard and there are still gaps. The flood control, if there are gaps, the water will enter the gaps,” he added.</p><p>Dizon also said Marcos has instructed Cabinet officials to remain focused on governance despite political controversies.</p><p>&quot;What the president wants and what he has told all of us in the cabinet is he just wants to focus on the work,” he said.</p><p>&quot;Our priority is to address the major difficulties and hardships that our people are facing. And that is what we are doing and that is what we will do,” he added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F_RZR_CC9BA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CTz8aDj5HNQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon on Monday defended the Marcos administration's anti-corruption campaign in the agency, citing ongoing criminal cases, institutional reforms, and personnel changes.</p>

DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon on Monday defended the Marcos administration's anti-corruption campaign in the agency, citing ongoing criminal cases, institutional reforms, and personnel changes.

What changed a year after Marcos flood control 'exposé'? Dizon cites reforms

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What changed a year after Marcos flood control 'exposé'? Dizon cites reforms

Chalssea Kate Echegoyen,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 27, 2026 10:32 AM PHT

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FLOOD CONTROL

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