MANILA, Philippines — Eleven regional and district executives of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have been relieved, as part of an ongoing cleanup of the agency at the center of investigations on massive anomalies in flood control projects.
At a press briefing yesterday, Secretary Vince Dizon said the 11 comprise the “initial batch” of officials dismissed for “various reasons,” as his leadership team in the DPWH continues its house cleaning.
“We are officially relieving (them) today (Monday) for various reasons, specifically because there are ongoing investigations here which I cannot fully disclose to you. But suffice it to say we are investigating a lot of people in the department,” Dizon said.
He said he would be signing the official orders for their relief “in the next day or so.”
Of the 11 officials sacked, four were regional directors: Ronnel Tan of Region 1, Jovel Mendoza of Region 4-A, Virgilio Eduarte of Region 5 and Danilo Villa of Region 7.
Also relieved were assistant regional directors Neil Farala of Region 4-B and Annie dela Vega of Region 5, along with district engineers Ruel Umali of the 3rd district of Metro Manila and Manny Bulusan of South Manila District Engineering Office.
Ordered dismissed after being found ineligible by the Civil Service Commission were district engineers Sherylann Gonzales (La Union), Roy Pacanan (IloIlo City) and Peter Scheller Soco (Leyte), “because they have not met CSC qualification standards,” Dizon said.
He said the DPWH has new “merit requirements” for all officials, specifically district engineers, assistant district engineers, regional directors and assistant regional directors.
“We will make requirements for qualifications of officials in the department tougher and stronger. This will come in the next few weeks. This is the initial batch of those relieved,” he said.
With the dismissal of 11 regional and district officers, a reshuffling in the department will follow, according to Dizon.
No worries
Also at the briefing, Dizon said he is not worried about the apparent lack of funding for foreign assisted infrastructure projects in the 2026 budget of the DPWH.
He said the DPWH is looking at tapping savings generated by the DPWH in 2025, and even the bigger savings likely to be made by the department this year.
“I think, the good thing is, in the past years unfortunately, the disbursement and utilization rates of DPWH, has not been great. Meaning it was so low,” Dizon said.
To recall, Dizon – upon assuming the top DPWH post in the first week of September last year or at the height of the flood control scandal, ordered a moratorium on procurement activities. “And because of that, there has been a lot of savings,” he said.
“And also because of the savings that we will be getting from the reductions in the cost of projects because of the revised cost of materials this year, I think even with very low foreign assisted projects budget in the final General Appropriations Act, we can still do something. We can still do many things for foreign assisted projects,” he said.
“And I want to assure our lenders, specifically, ADB (Asian Development Bank), JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), Korea ExIm (Export and Import Bank) and the others, that we have, based on savings from previous years, and also for 2026, we have substantial amount of funds to ensure that no project will be delayed under the foreign assisted projects program,” Dizon said.
The DPWH received the second-largest allocation in the 2026 national budget, at P530.9 billion.
The Department of Budget and Management earlier said that the DPWH has an allocation of almost P16 billion for foreign-assisted flood control projects.
Witnesses cautioned
Malacañang, meanwhile, called on the witnesses of the flood control scam not to allow themselves to be deceived, saying they might end up being jailed instead of the main actors behind the anomalies.
Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said the country needs the witnesses because the people are searching for the truth behind the scandal.
“These witnesses who possibly know the truth, they should not allow themselves to be tricked,” the Palace press officer said at a press briefing.
“Do not allow yourselves to be deceived because instead of being saved by the truth you will expose, you might end up being used and the big fish you accused would be cleared.”
She said those who have helpful information could become state witnesses, depending on their qualifications.
Castro was asked to react to the Facebook post of veteran columnist Ramon Tulfo, who claimed that there is a “game plan” behind the alleged retraction of former public works department engineers Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza, who had tagged a number of officials on the flood control anomalies.
Citing an unnamed source, Tulfo said the lawyers of the former government engineers – collectively known as “BGC boys” – had reached out to the camp of Vice President Sara Duterte.
According to Tulfo, the BGC boys are hoping that Duterte would be acquitted in her impeachment trial and would become president in 2028.
If Duterte wins the presidency, the three former public works engineers would be granted executive clemency or pardon or commutation of sentence or reprieve, Tulfo said. — Alexis Romero