The Commission on Appointments’ (CA) Committee on Transportation approved on Tuesday the ad interim appointment of Vince Dizon as secretary of the Department of Transportation (DoTr).

The committee endorsed his confirmation after CA Majority Floor Leader Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. moved to recommend Dizon as the second Transportation chief under President Marcos’ administration.

During the deliberations, Dizon was asked about his plans to improve the country’s transportation situation, including the perennial traffic congestion on major Metro Manila highways.

He said part of his priorities is to hasten the completion of big-ticket infrastructure projects, particularly the “long-delayed” extensions and interconnectivity of the capital’s major rail lines — LRT-1, MRT-3 and MRT-7.

Dizon also vowed to emphasize road transport safety following the recent spate of vehicular accidents that killed numerous people.

“[W]hat we see as the root cause of these many problems is our failed road safety regulations, which unfortunately have really failed us over the past years,” he told Senator Risa Hontiveros.

“Both on the side of the Land Transportation Office and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board — the LTFRB that grants licenses to our public utility vehicles,” he said.

“Many of our road safety regulations are just regulations on paper. They are not actually implemented properly,” he added.

Dizon, who assumed office in February following the resignation of Secretary Jaime Bautista for health reasons, was among the Cabinet members who submitted courtesy resignations in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive.

Asked about the status of his resignation, Dizon said, “I did receive a call from the Executive Secretary that the President did not accept my resignation.”