Manuel Bonoan, the Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), has shifted individuals about in the district and regional offices because of the investigation into the difficulties with the flood control projects that were said to have happened.
Bonoan added that the division chiefs of the Batangas 1st District Engineering Office, the regional director of Region 4B, and the Regional Office of Assistant District Engineers had all been given new roles.
The following authorities were also affected by Bonoan’s order:
- Vivian Biaco is presently the head of the District Engineer’s Office in Catanduanes, Region V. She took over for Engr. Simon Arias.
- Engr. Leonardo Gonzales was reassigned from his role as Assistant District Engineer for the Albay 2nd District to take over for Engr. Joanne Morales.
- Engr. Joanne Morales took over as Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Assistant District Engineer in Albay 3rd District from Engr. Gonzales.
- Engr. Editha Babaran was put in charge of the Regional Director’s Office for Region IV-B. She took over for Engr. Pacanan, who was reassigned to the main office.
- Engr. Ronalyn Ubiña is now the Officer-in-Charge and Assistant Regional Director for Region II. She took over for Engr. Babaran.
The DPWH noted that the reassignments are part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to make sure that projects are done equitably and well.
The agency argued it had the right to do this because of Executive Order No. 124, series of 1987. This order allows the Secretary of Public Works and Highways the power to select officers-in-charge and relocate people around “in the interest of service and good governance.”
“Managot ang dapat managot, makulong ang dapat makulong.” In a video message, Bonoan added, “Actually, we’ve done some things to deal with different problems.”
We want to make sure that people are responsible for what they do and put them in jail if they need to be. We’ve already done a lot to remedy a lot of different issues.
The agency is also looking into whether there are flood control projects in Bulacan and other provinces in Regions 3, 4B, 6, 7, and 8.
The department established up an Anti-Corruption Task Force to get citizens to report DPWH projects that look questionable before this.
It has also put the district offices that were involved in ghost projects on leave as a precaution. The District Engineer, Assistant District Engineer, and section heads administer the Bulacan First District Engineering Office, which is one of them. The District Engineer at the Batangas 1st District Engineering Office is also on preventative suspension for allegedly trying to bribe Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Leviste.
In the video message, Bonoan said that asking him to quit is not the correct method to deal with the corruption that is suspected in the DPWH.
“Some people are telling me to leave or resign because of this problem.” Yan po sana ang madaling gawin, mag-resign o talikuran ko ang problema. “Pero hindi po ang pag-alis o pag-iwas ng responsibilidad ang tamang paraan ng paghahanap ng solusyon,” he commented.
People have told me to leave or quit because of this issue. I can easily quit or disregard the circumstance. But the greatest way to deal with the situation is not to run away from it.
Bonoan added, “I’ll take responsibility, but I won’t put up with or let any kind of corruption happen.”
I’ll take responsibility, but remember that I won’t let or put up with any kind of corruption.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. reminded government personnel in his State of the Nation Address last July that they will be penalized by the law if they stole money from the public, such as money for flood control projects.
“Not long ago, I looked into how Habagat and the storms Crising, Dante, and Emong affected things.” During his fourth State of the Nation Address, Marcos said, “I can see that many flood control projects are failing and others are just ideas.”
I just looked at how the Southwest Monsoon and the tropical storms Crising, Dante, and Emong changed things. I saw that there were a lot of flood control projects that weren’t very good and some that weren’t even real; they were just made up.
The Palace said last Wednesday that Marcos had ordered all officials to have their lifestyles checked while the investigation into unusual flood control schemes was going on.
