DPWH chief ‘Vince’ Dizon acts decisively by withholding disbursement of payments to identified contractors in substandard and ‘ghost’ flood control projects.
Finally government has made an important step in responding to the crisis of wasted public funds with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DWPH) withholding the payments for ongoing projects involving at least two blacklisted contractors in light of the discovery that some of them were involved in non-existent or so-called ‘ghost’ flood control initiatives.
In the latest development, public works secretary Vivencio ‘Vince’ Dizon issued the directive as payments to controversial Wawao Builders and SYMS Construction Trading were halted as both firms havebeen banned as contractors.
“I issued an order to hold off payments to those contractors if ever they are involved in ongoing projects. They need to finish the project if it is ongoing, and I will talk with our operations group on how we are going to deal with this so the projects they are under contract with will still be completed,” Dizon informed the House appropriations panel during the budget presentation of the DPWH’s proposed ₱880 billion budget for 2026.
Based on reports, SYMS Construction Trading was behind the ghost project visited by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. in Barangay Piel in Baliuag, Bulacan on August 20 the current year.
Dizon has likewise personally inspected Wawao’s PhP96.5 million flood control project in Bulacan which has been declared “complete” in 2024 but was found out during the visit that the contractor had just started to catch up with its construction three weeks ago.
“For projects deemed completed but turned out to be a ghost or substandard projects, we need to get back the warranties . . . pursue other recourse so that the contractor pays up for sloppy projects,” Dizon asserted.
“We won’t allow these people to get away with their ghost work. The contractor should pay their dues,” he added.
Dizon also announced during the budget briefing that all DPWH officials from the Central Office had already heeded his call to tender courtesy resignations to jumpstart reforms in the agency that has been deeply marred by the discovery of billions of pesos worth of anomalous flood control projects.
Courtesy resignations, however, by other officials of the agency across the country have not yet been logged in.
“A lot of DPWH officials already submitted courtesy resignations. I will double-check, but at least from the Central Office, everyone has submitted already. It’s 100 percent,” Dizon noted to respond to a query by Mamamayang Liberal party-list representative Leila Norma Eulalia Josefa De Lima.
“Rest assured that other officials will take heed of this order in the coming days and weeks,” the public works chief committed to conclude.