After spearheading the pursuit of accountability in the flood control corruption scandal and making thousands of Department of Public Works and Highways infrastructure projects available for public scrutiny, Vince Dizon is returning to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) with a new reform priority. He is now taking aim at fixers and long queues at the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
His return comes as the LTO faces scrutiny over computer fees and illegal transactions. The Ombudsman cited Commission on Audit findings showing that motorists paid ₱13.38 billion in additional STRADCOM computer fees from 2019 to 2025 while the old IT system continued operating alongside its replacement. Two former LTO chiefs were preventively suspended in August.
In September, LTO chief Markus Lacanilao said 71 suspected fixers had been arrested in Metro Manila since October 2025, while 76 employees had been apprehended over their involvement. An April NBI entrapment operation also recorded a ₱7,000 payment made to fast-track a driver’s license application.
“Kaya aayusin natin ang LTO once and for all,” Dizon said at an October 27 press conference.
He said Marcos wanted him back at the DOTr to “disrupt things there to make the lives of our commuters easier.”
At the DPWH, Dizon pressed for accountability as investigations into flood control corruption advanced to formal cases. At the turnover, he reported filings involving more than 100 people before the Ombudsman or Justice Department and 39 flood control cases in court. “Over 80 DPWH employees have already been removed,” he added.
The Ombudsman confirmed that 35 cases had reached the Sandiganbayan and four were before regional trial courts as of October 12. These involved 52 individuals, including 33 DPWH personnel. Dizon also reported that 23 contractors had been blacklisted by October 19. He approved sanctions against seven construction firms earlier that month, including companies linked to the flood control controversy.
During his tenure, Dizon intensified inspections of questionable flood-control works and helped advance graft complaints against contractors and DPWH officials, including Sarah and Curlee Discaya and former Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara.
The department also submitted evidence linking former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co to flood-control kickbacks. Those findings later formed part of the Ombudsman’s plunder case against the two, which led to Romualdez’s arrest and detention.
In his final week, Dizon relieved or reassigned 10 personnel amid investigations into flood control anomalies in Davao City and an extortion complaint in Cebu. The Davao actions followed criminal complaints filed by the National Bureau of Investigation.
“But it’s structural and it’s systemic,” Dizon said of the DPWH problems.
His reforms included a transparency portal giving the public access to infrastructure project records.
“We have to build the systems so that the reforms will last,” he said as Giovanni Lopez took over the DPWH.
Launched in November 2025 during Dizon’s tenure, the DPWH Transparency Portal covered 247,172 infrastructure projects dating back to 2016. The platform allows Filipinos to examine project costs, contractors, implementation progress, and available contract documents. Citizens can also report suspected irregularities anonymously, expanding public oversight of government infrastructure spending.
Dizon has also been tasked with accelerating mass transport projects. At the LTO, the immediate priorities are shorter queues and action against fixers who exploit motorists.
