Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon has relieved two officials from their posts at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Pampanga Third District Office over road safety negligence and other violations.

In a social media post, the DPWH secretary issued a memorandum relieving Pampanga 3rd OIC-District Engineer Aser S. Mallari and OIC-Assistant District Engineer Augustin R. Dagsaan Jr. from their posts.

The post states that the two officials failed to implement necessary road safety measures at a DPWH project on the Fil-Am Friendship Highway in Angeles City, Pampanga, where a man died after falling into an open drainage canal.

Following the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the DPWH will diligently and strictly implement safety and quality standards on all projects to ensure the safety of the public. Dizon assured that all DPWH officials will answer for any negligence in their duties.

To recall, a 25-year-old man named Reiner Novero died after falling into a flooded, open drainage canal along the Fil-Am Friendship Highway in Barangay Cutcut in Angeles City, Pampanga, on 28 August 2026.

Novero was walking along a flooded sidewalk near a Korean store when he was swept away by a strong current after stepping into an uncovered, submerged drainage canal.

CCTV footage of the incident circulated widely on social media. His body was recovered about an hour later, roughly two kilometers away beneath a bridge in front of Mansfield Residences in Barangay Sto. Domingo.