Marcos: Bonoan quit DPWH over 'command responsibility'
MANILA, Philippines — Former public works secretary Manuel Bonoan resigned out of “command responsibility,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday, September 1.
Bonoan stepped down from the Department of Public Works and Highways days after insisting that leaving his post was not the solution to allegations of widespread corruption in flood control projects.
In a video posted Saturday on the DPWH’s Facebook page, Bonoan said quitting would not resolve the issue but that he would accept accountability.
The next day, the Palace announced that Bonoan would be replaced by Vince Dizon, then Transport secretary. By Monday, Marcos had sworn in Dizon as the new DPWH chief, while Bonoan faced the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee over the flood control anomalies.
Speaking to reporters in Pasay, Marcos said Bonoan resigned on principle.
“I think it was Secretary Bonoan who said that basically that he took responsibility because… all of these problems happened under his watch. So, under the principle of command responsibility, he felt that he should leave his post,” Marcos said.
Marcos said he tapped Dizon because of his performance at the Department of Transportation, and that he has already set the stage for the agency.
Next steps in flood control probe
The DPWH has been linked to systemic corruption in flood control projects, with Bonoan himself acknowledging the existence of ghost or non-existent builds.
Marcos said an executive order is being drafted to create an independent commission to investigate. “The more we look, the more we find,” he said.
While Bonoan may be out of the DPWH, he is not immune to accountability. Palace press officer Claire Castro later stressed that everyone will be subject to the commission’s investigation.
Dizon takes over. Dizon, whose government career spans the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, the COVID-19 vaccination program and the Department of Transportation, said he is still learning the DPWH system.
He added that he plans to consult former DPWH secretaries Ping De Jesus, Babes Singson and Sen. Mark Villar who could give him crucial information.
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