CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – Business advocate Rene G. Romero urged the government to hold the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) fully accountable for corruption and failures in infrastructure and flood control projects.
In a public statement, Romero said DPWH remains the “weakest link in governance” as it is mandated to safeguard taxpayers’ money but repeatedly certifies substandard works, approves bloated budgets, and allows overpriced contracts.
“No corruption would prosper in government projects if DPWH officials refused to tolerate it,” Romero stressed, adding that defective projects are a systemic betrayal of public trust.
Romero commended President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for ordering investigations into questionable flood control projects, but insisted that without reforms inside DPWH, “corruption in infrastructure will persist, and public funds will continue to be squandered.”
He urged strict penalties, dismissals, and prosecution of officials who collude with contractors and politicians, stressing that Filipinos “deserve projects built with integrity, transparency, and genuine public service.”