DPWH overhaul looms as Dizon sets 60-day purge

Reeling from years of controversy over questionable flood control projects and alleged ghost infrastructure, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is bracing for a sweeping shakeup under a 60-day deadline imposed by newly appointed Secretary Vince Dizon.

At a media briefing on Tuesday following a ceremonial turnover of leadership, Dizon said the agency is giving itself 60 days to undergo a reorganization to restore public trust.

“We are giving ourselves 60 days maximum to be able to see how best we can reorganize. Hopefully, after 30 to 60 days, we will have an organization that we feel will be ready to take on these challenges and move forward,” Dizon told reporters. “But it will be a difficult 60 days. I will not sugarcoat it.”

Dizon stressed that cleansing the agency was necessary, acknowledging that “in any organization there are problematic members.”

“The process of weeding out the bad and replacing them with the good is a process that any organization, that all organizations have to go through at some point. It is a difficult process, but it is a necessary process. Because that is how institutions are built over decades," Dizon said.

Upon his appointment, Dizon’s first order was the courtesy resignation of all DPWH officials, from undersecretaries down to district engineers, as part of the purge.

He said the move follows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to cleanse the department amid long-standing issues over anomalous projects.

An independent commission to be created by the president will investigate officials and personnel found to have enabled irregular projects, with those proven liable to face charges under the law.