TO be honest, it’s never been my style to publicly admire or boast about anyone I come across—especially government officials who demonstrate competence and integrity in public service despite the temptations of enriching themselves at the expense of the people’s hard-earned money.
But after spending decades in this profession as a journalist, there’s something truly striking and exceptional about Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon. You’ll never see him tire—whether it rains or shines, even in the middle of a storm, he simply doesn’t care.
He’ll travel even to far-flung provinces just to personally see and provide immediate, concrete solutions to the many flood control projects that were abandoned and neglected by previous officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways—even as those same officials’ wealth certainly ballooned through corruption.
And when it comes to corruption, which has long tarnished the agency’s image, Secretary Dizon is headed in the right direction by joining forces with the civil society groups that would help him monitor infrastructure projects from the bidding process all the way through to their completion stages.
Citing the importance of citizen involvement, he met with the members of ‘Bisto Proyekto,’ a citizen-monitoring initiative involving civil society organizations in assessing public infrastructure projects.
Pushing honesty and openness, it works alongside church groups, civil society members, and government agencies like the DPWH.
Among those who participated during infrastructure the assessment meeting with the DPWH chief were Cardinal Pablo ‘Ambo’ David, Taongbayan’s Action for Participatory, Accountable, and Transparent Governance lead convenor Dondon Parafina and People’s Budget Coalition co-convenor Ken Abante.
The top DPWH official said the initiative was in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to ensure transparency in government projects and that their benefits went to the Filipino people.
Dizon informed the groups that under his current reforms, infrastructure proposals are subjected to rigorous evaluation, requiring up to five supporting compliance documents before they can be approved.
He then expressed his gratitude to them for their contribution to the assessment, saying their participation would help the agency monitor its projects across the country.
May your tribe Sec. Vince multiply!
