NEWLY appointed Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered all officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) — from undersecretaries down to district engineers — to submit courtesy resignations.
“This is the very first directive of our President,” Dizon said on Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. He explained that Marcos instructed him to “clean up” the DPWH as his first task, describing the resignations as the start of a housecleaning effort.
Alongside this internal purge, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced Monday that he will create an independent commission with lawyers, forensic investigators and prosecutors to probe irregularities in flood-control spending. The body will recommend cases for filing before the Ombudsman or the Department of Justice.
The combined moves signal one of the most sweeping attempts in years to address corruption in infrastructure spending.
What’s a courtesy resignation
A courtesy resignation is an offer to resign submitted by an appointed official when a new leader takes office. The practice gives the new leader the discretion to build their own team by either retaining or replacing the official.
Unlike a standard resignation, a courtesy resignation is not final until it is accepted. The official remains in their position and continues to perform their duties until a decision is made. This tradition is most common in government during leadership transitions.
What flood control projects are for
Flood-control projects are a cornerstone of disaster preparedness in the Philippines, a country that experiences an average of 20 tropical cyclones each year, according to the state weather bureau.
Without these projects, low-lying towns and major cities are left vulnerable to inundation, storm surges, and landslides.
According to the DPWH, common types of flood-control projects include:
Drainage systems that channel rainwater away from roads, homes, and business districts.
Culverts and box drains that allow stormwater to pass underneath roads and built-up areas.
Seawalls and revetments that protect coastal communities from storm surges and coastal erosion.
Riverbank protection works such as ripraps, gabions, and concrete slope protection to prevent river overflow and soil erosion.
Pumping stations in urban areas like Metro Manila, which force water out when gravity drainage alone is insufficient.
Each of these structures requires careful engineering and maintenance. They also require large budgets, making them attractive targets for graft.
Why corruption thrives in flood control projects
Flood control projects command some of the largest budget allocations in national infrastructure. Marcos confirmed allocations have surpassed P500 billion annually from July 2022 to May 2025, spread out across hundreds of municipalities and congressional districts.
Watchdogs and investigative reports said there are several factors that make these projects especially vulnerable:
Sheer scale of funding. The size of the budget creates wide discretion in project selection and prioritization.
Geographic dispersion. With projects scattered nationwide, monitoring is difficult, allowing anomalies to slip through.
Urgency of disasters. Projects are often approved quickly in response to typhoons and flooding, leaving little time for thorough vetting.
Technical complexity. Engineering details can be opaque to the public, enabling overpricing and substandard work to go unnoticed.
Watchdog groups and government auditors have repeatedly uncovered patterns of corruption, such as:
Ghost projects: reported as finished and funded but nonexistent on the ground.
Overpricing and kickbacks: inflated costs with large portions siphoned as commissions.
Substandard construction: weak concrete, insufficient steel, or rushed work leading to collapses.
Budget insertions: politically driven projects with little technical justification.
Contractor dominance: a handful of favored companies cornering contracts across multiple regions.
Zoom in Cebu, CV
Against the backdrop of national controversy, the DPWH Central Visayas conducted its own audit.
DPWH Central Visayas Director Danilo Villa said nearly 600 projects undertaken between 2022 and 2025 — ranging from drainage improvements to seawalls and river protection works in Cebu and Negros Oriental — were personally validated by inspection teams.
He has said that “every project was found on-site, and none were missing or fake.”
The validation came after Cebu drew attention for ranking second nationwide in the number of flood control projects, even though the province is not among the 10 most flood-prone in the country. The concentration of projects, coupled with the dominance of a few contractors, raised questions about equity and political influence in project allocation.
One contractor, QM Builders, secured a large share of contracts despite its relatively modest capitalization. Villa defended the process, saying all awards went through open bidding and that every completed project was physically inspected.
The regional office also appealed to citizens to report any irregularities they observe in ongoing or completed works, stressing that community monitoring is vital to accountability.
Zoom out: National perspective
While DPWH Central Visayas chief claims that there are no ghost projects, the national investigation paints a different picture. Marcos admitted that more anomalies were being uncovered as auditors and investigators dug deeper.
“Unfortunately, the more we look, the more we find. Even in the 2026 budget, there are still insertions,” Marcos said.
The President’s remark underscored how entrenched the problem may be, spanning multiple budget cycles and administrations.
The Office of the Ombudsman has formed a special panel of prosecutors to pursue cases involving anomalous projects. The independent commission being finalized is expected to complement this by providing fact-finding, technical investigation, and recommendations on whether to elevate cases to court.
What’s next
As the investigation moves forward, findings from both the independent commission and the Office of the Ombudsman will help determine the extent of irregularities in flood-control spending and whether reforms are needed to ensure projects fulfill their mandate of protecting communities from floods. / TPM / Sunstar Philippines