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Vince Dizon returns as secretary of the Department of Transportation while Giovanni Lopez will take over as the new secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways
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Presidential Communications Office acting secretary Lino Cayetano announced the switch on October 26, noting that the changes in the Cabinet are intended to hasten and further improve government services
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Dizon and Lopez will hold a press conference on October 27
Vince Dizon is returning as secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) while Giovanni Lopez will take over as the new secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Presidential Communications Office acting secretary Lino Cayetano announced on Monday.
“…we are shifting gears to accelerate reform: Secretary Dizon goes to the DOTr to fix the daily commute, Secretary Lopez goes to the DPWH to make sure the reforms there last. All these are intended to further hasten and ease government services to the public,” Cayetano, speaking in mixed English and Filipino, said in a briefing in Malacañang.
Dizon on September 1, 2025 took the helm of DPWH from Manuel Bonoan, who resigned following the discovery of numerous questionable government-funded flood projects. Dizon was replaced by Lopez, who was undersecretary of DoTr prior to his appointment to lead the department on September 3.
Cayetano said Dizon “returns to the Department of Transportation with the President’s full confidence and a simple order: make the daily commute a little easier and at the LTO (Land Transportation Office), shorten the lines and get rid of the fixers.”
Dizon has also been tasked to push completion of critical mass transport projects “so workers and students can spend less time on the road and more time with their families.”
Cayetano added that Dizon at DPWH “disrupted a system that had protected ways and corruption for years.” He said thousands of projects are now open to the public through the infrastructure project portal, and “long, unfinished projects are being completed, and the new culture of transparency and accountability has begun to take root.”
READ: DPWH chief to drive infrastructure dialogue at Logistics Services Philippines Conference 2026
The transparency portal provides a transparent and online tracking database of more than 250,000 DPWH infrastructure projects nationwide since 2016.
Secure DPWH gains
Lopez, for his part, “will secure these gains and build a system to last”, Cayetano said.
The new DPWH head has been tasked to strengthen safeguards and institutionalize reforms made during Dizon’s term, “turning them into rules, processes and systems that will keep serving Filipinos even after this administration for decades to come.”
Moreover, Lopez has been directed to speed up roads, bridges, and other government infrastructure projects.
Cayetano said Marcos thinks Lopez, who he noted is a systems builder, “is the best person for the job.”
“The President’s direction is clear: Secretary Dizon will accelerate results at the Transportation (department), Secretary Lopez will strengthen and sustain reforms at Public Works.This is how the President leads, he puts the right people where they can deliver the most,” Cayetano added.
The two secretaries will hold a press conference on October 27.
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