As per the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon aired again his intent to hire young professionals for the agency.

He urged fresh graduates of engineering courses to be part of the reform and wide-ranging reforms the agency is planning to implement in the recently concluded job fair held at Batangas State University – Pablo Borbon Campus.

"Kaya kailangan namin kayo. Alam ko, baka natatakot kayo sumali sa gobyerno kasi nga napaka-corrupt, napaka-inefficient. Pero alam n'yo, kung hindi kayo sasama sa gobyerno, ay sino pa 'yung gagawa? 'Di ba? Sino pa? So, kailangan kayo,” said Dizon to the students and alumni who attended the job fair on Monday.

The massive recruitment binge of young professionals is part and parcel of the reformation to do away with the system of “palakasan system” in DPWH.

This comes as the agency issued Department Order No. 18, aiming to strengthen the merit-based promotion and hiring of DPWH personnel nationwide.

Earlier, Dizon had called on young Filipinos and fresh graduates to join the DPWH and help get rid of corruption.

It was aired at the first DPWH Campus Job Fair held at Mapúa University in Intramuros, wherein Dizon urged them to apply, saying it is a "golden opportunity" for young engineers to be "part of the solution."

"Because that’s what we need. We need more people to join us and try to solve all these problems," he said at the opening of the job fair, where more than 300 student-applicants participated.

“But we need you. We need to remove the rotten eggs and we need to bring in fresh blood."

The job fair aims to encourage the youth to help with the ongoing changes in the agency, also based on the directive of the President to clean up the ranks of the department.

The President has earlier directed the DPWH to recruit young professionals to fill 2,000 vacant positions.