Dizon orders pause of ongoing bidding of all locally funded DPWH projects

Newly installed Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon is suspending the ongoing bidding of all locally funded projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways all over the country.

“I will order today a pause to all the ongoing bidding of all locally funded projects nationwide,” Dizon said at a briefing following the ceremonial turnover of the Department of Transportation’s leadership to Acting Secretary Giovanni Lopez in San Juan City on Wednesday.

The Public Works chief said the pause of all ongoing biddings will take “two weeks.”

Dizon said infrastructure projects such as flood control, roads, bridges, among others to be bid out by the DPWH’s national, regional, and district offices are covered by his pause order.

He explained the Public Works Department will review its bidding process for locally funded projects.

“I’m giving our new team two weeks maximum to put safeguards in the bidding process,” Dizon said.

“The President does not want any more money of the government, of the DPWH, thrown out to the river,” he added.

The DPWH chief said upcoming biddings for foreign-assisted projects will continue.

“Because we are confident these [foreign-assisted projects] are in order since our foreign funders are monitoring these,” Dizon said.

On Tuesday, the DPWH chief said the agency has no choice but to rebid the flood control projects, which are non-existent or "ghost.”

Resigned Secretary Manuel Bonoan said the DPWH already validated 160 flood control projects out of about 9,855 completed from July 2022 to May 2025.

The former Public Works chief said the DPWH has found that 15 out of 160 validated flood control projects are “missing” or "unlocated."

Bonoan recently resigned from his Cabinet post amid massive flooding in the Metro and the ongoing probe into the flood control projects anomalies. —AOL, GMA Integrated News