Dizon aide in DPWH resigns after Leviste questioned ties
One of Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon’s closest aides has stepped down from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) after Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste linked him to what the lawmaker described as questionable dealings with contractors.
On Friday, Dizon announced that Public Works Undersecretary Arrey Perez resigned just hours after Leviste named him at a briefing as among the officials who met with contractors outside of the DPWH offices. Perez took his oath as undersecretary for operations in charge of convergence projects and technical services only on Sept. 29.
“Although Leviste himself said that these were based on rumors, [I immediately] talked to Undersecretary Perez and I told him I would investigate these allegations,” Dizon said. “[Perez] said that while he welcomed that, he didn’t want to be a distraction because he knows we’re in the middle of a very challenging time and he tendered his irrevocable resignation.”
‘Very toxic environment’
“He took initiative and I respect that decision,” Dizon added. “Just like what happened with [Undersecretary Catalina] Cabral, [Undersecretary Roberto] Bernardo and even [former Secretary Manuel) Bonoan … just because they resigned, doesn’t mean they would no longer be investigated. That was our promise: there would be no sacred cows.”
Perez’s resignation follows mounting pressure from both lawmakers and the public for greater accountability in the corruption-riddled agency as the Independent Commission for Infrastructure continues its investigation into anomalous public works contracts.
Nevertheless, Dizon could not help but lament “the very toxic environment we are now in … a little rumor about this person can turn into the ‘truth’ when it shouldn’t be like that … Determining who should be held accountable cannot be based on [hearsay] alone.”
For his part, Leviste said that while he welcomed Perez’s resignation, “it is not enough to change the people, we must change the system of the DPWH.”
In his own press conference also on Friday, the neophyte congressman cited “multiple sources” alleging that Perez had a “questionable history in bidding and procurement” from his earlier stint at the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) when Dizon led that government agency tasked with converting former military reservations and properties into economic hubs.
On Thursday, Leviste also held a press conference where he accused some of Dizon’s appointees of either being contractors themselves or having links to contractors.
This as Leviste sought to pressure Dizon to heed his two demands in relation to the DPWH budget: for the agency to release its budget per legislative district, and to lower project prices by 25 percent to reduce the chances of government officials using the project cost estimates for kickbacks.
‘Asking for favors’
Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon, or Region 4-A) region, which includes Leviste’s home province of Batangas, would get only 10 percent of the DPWH’s allocable budget even though it accounts for 15 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
In August, Leviste filed a complaint of direct bribery against DPWH Batangas first district engineer Abelardo Calalo for trying to offer him P3 million supposedly in exchange for blocking an inquiry into flood control projects in the district. In his affidavit, Calalo, who is out on bail, denied bribing Leviste, claiming that the money was a “donation” from a contractor.
Leviste on Thursday also alleged that some of the DPWH appointees were already meeting with contractors and “asking for favors.” However, he did not identify these officials or say what these favors were, noting that his information was only based on his conversations with “multiple sources” whom he did not identify.
The next day, Leviste decided to identify Perez, though he clarified that the undersecretary was not a contractor, but that he was “the most frequently named official” by his sources who spoke of continuing corruption issues in the DPWH central office.
Again citing his sources, Leviste said he heard talk that Dizon had planned on appointing Perez to the DPWH’s bidding and procurement office. The lawmaker said “many would be disappointed in the leadership of Secretary Vince Dizon once they see the history of bidding and procurement under Perez.”
Leviste did not again give specifics, though the Inquirer had confirmed through Perez’s publicly available resumé on the BCDA website that he “managed the project implementation and construction of the New Clark City’s world-class sports facilities, composed of the Class 1 athletics stadium and aquatic center, as well as the athletes’ village.”
These were the same sports facilities that were used during the 2019 Southeast Asian Games and which the Commission on Audit had flagged for giving “undue advantage” to private contractor MTD Capital Berhad, which won the P8.51-billion contract through an unsolicited proposal instead of a competitive bidding.
At the time, Perez was serving as the BCDA vice president as well as the deputy director general of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee.
Pressed for details, Leviste accused Perez of meeting with contractors outside of the DPWH headquarters, calling it inappropriate in light of allegations that the agency’s officials had colluded with senators, congressmen and contractors to profit off of infrastructure contracts.
“Secretary Dizon himself acknowledged that [the optics of that] is not nice. And the reason why we shouldn’t give the benefit of the doubt to someone who talks to contractors is because of the context of the DPWH and its procurement [issues], which is very sensitive,” Leviste said.
He said that apart from Perez, another high-ranking official in Dizon’s team had met with three contractors in a restaurant during an undisclosed date and that the appointee “was already asking for something, perhaps in exchange for projects not yet awarded by the DPWH.”
“That’s why it’s important that they themselves disclose this and assure the people that they did not receive kickbacks,” Leviste added.
‘Delicadeza’
But Dizon said: “For the better understanding of our countrymen, talking to contractors, that’s the job of the DPWH. Of course, it’s another matter if they’re asking for something from contractors.”
He also reminded the public of the case of dismissed DPWH Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara, who supposedly received millions of pesos in cash in his office—“which just goes to show that even meetings inside the office doesn’t necessarily mean they’re clean meetings.”
“It’s very unfortunate, but you have to give it to him (Perez) that he has delicadeza and he is not ‘kapit-tuko’ (clinging to one’s position),” he added. “Allegations are par for the course when you’re in government, but what is important is that you also have due process, and that these are proven with evidence and not just hearsay,” Dizon added.
Before his DPWH stint, Perez, a longtime associate of Dizon since the latter was BCDA president and CEO during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, served as president and COO of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. Dizon said he personally sought permission from businessman Manny V. Pangilinan, the chair, president and CEO of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., to bring Perez into the DPWH. —WITH REPORTS FROM FAITH ARGOSINO AND INQUIRER RESEARCH
