ILOILO City – The fate of Iloilo City District Engineer Roy Pacanan now hangs in the balance after new Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon ordered the courtesy resignation of all Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials nationwide — from undersecretaries down to district engineers.
Dizon said the directive, issued on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s instruction, seeks to rid the agency of irregularities and anomalous projects.
“Ang unang-una ko pong order na ilalabas ay ang pag-order ng courtesy resignations top to bottom: Usec (Undersecretary), Asec (Assistant Secretary), division head, regional director, hanggang district engineer ng buong bansa,” Dizon announced in Malacañang. “Nag-usap po kami nang matagal kaninang umaga at ang sabi niya ‘linisin’ ang DPWH at ito po ang simula.”
Pacanan, whose office has been repeatedly criticized over project delays and coordination issues in Iloilo City, is among those covered by the resignation order.
Calls for his removal have long circulated locally, but with Dizon’s directive, Mayor Raisa Treñas stressed the decision is no longer hers to make.
“We believe that Secretary Vince will have the best decisions. Being the new secretary, he will surely review and revisit what changes are necessary for the department. It is up to him to decide whether certain officials, including district engineers, should be relieved or retained,” she said.
Dizon emphasized accountability, citing Marcos’ recent discovery in Bulacan of a flood control project that existed only on paper.
“Papaano po nabayaran kung isang proyekto na guni-guni lang, na wala naman talaga? Mayroon po sa DPWH na nagpabayad doon,” Dizon said.
Pacanan’s troubles are not new. He has twice been declared persona non grata by the city government — once through an executive order by then Mayor Jerry Treñas, and again through a resolution of the 11th City Council. Both stemmed from controversies over delayed and problematic infrastructure projects.
The embattled engineer also refused to attend a recent City Council inquiry probing whether DPWH’s waterway projects worsened Iloilo’s flooding woes. The inquiry — conducted by the committees on Environmental Protection and Ecology, Public Works, Public Safety, and Disaster Relief — is still underway.
Mayor Raisa Treñas challenged Pacanan’s absence. “If he has done nothing wrong, then he should have no reason to avoid City Hall. Public service demands accountability,” she said.
In his defense, Pacanan rejected the council’s jurisdiction in an Aug. 8 letter, arguing local legislatures lack constitutional authority to investigate “in aid of legislation.”
He also accused the resolution convening the hearing of prejudging DPWH as responsible for the floods.
He insisted his office’s projects, including works at Buntatala Creek, had nothing to do with recent inundations. Instead, he blamed “decades-old geographic conditions” and “unregulated development” — even accusing some councilors and barangay officials of political maneuvering and spreading “factually erroneous” claims.
The matter, he said, had been elevated to the DPWH Central Office.
Mayor Treñas expressed optimism about Dizon’s leadership. “He is a secretary who hardly sleeps. When he was still with the Department of Transportation, he made sure to look into every problem and act quickly. Even in our airport, he already set timelines to improve services for the people,” she said, recalling his work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With Secretary Dizon’s leadership, and with Iloilo City as a proactive partner, we are confident that we can build safer, more inclusive, and future-ready infrastructure projects that truly serve their purpose and the people — not projects done just for the sake of having projects,” she added.
For now, Pacanan’s fate rests with Dizon, who vowed: “Ang sabi ng ating Pangulo, linisin ang DPWH — at ito po ang simula.”/PN
