Dizon creates ‘flagship office’ to hasten transport projects
- Shakeup also looms at PCO, other agencies
The shakeup in the Department of Transportation resulted in the replacement of five undersecretaries, two assistant secretaries, and one official in an acting capacity assigned to an attached agency.
Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon swore into office the new senior executives days after asking officials under the previous DOTr leadership to tender their courtesy resignations.
The new officials are as follows Giovanni Lopez as undersecretary for Administration, Finance and Procurement (replacing Jesus Gonzales); Mark Steven Pastor as undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure (replacing Jesus Ortega); Jim Sydiongco as undersecretary for Aviation and Airports (replacing Roberto Lim); Teodorico Jose Delfin as undersecretary for Planning and Project Development (replacing Timothy John Batan) and Ramon Reyes as undersecretary for Road Transport and Non-Infrastructure — a newly-created position.
Sworn in as assistant secretaries are Dioscoro Reyes for Road Transport and Non-Infrastructure (replacing Jose Lim IV) and Villamor Ventura Plan for maritime (replacing Julius Yano).
Raul Del Rosario was appointed acting Director General and acting member of the Board of Directors of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
Undersecretaries Timothy Batan (railways) and Jonathan Ronulo (legal affairs) were retained in their respective posts.
The DOTr said President Ferdinand Marcos signed the appointment papers of the new officials on February 26 and 27, 2025.
A revamp is also expected within the Presidential Communications Office, which is now headed by former broadcast journalist Jay Ruiz.
“He said there will be changes and some will be retained, some may also be removed. So, let’s just wait for the order of Secretary Jay Ruiz,” Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro earlier said.
She also confimed the President is still evaluating the performance of his Cabinet members, and no decision has yet been made on whether more officials need to be replaced.
“The President needs to evaluate every time if his secretaries, Cabinet members, are doing well for the government, for the people. But as of now, there are no changes yet,” she added.
As this developed, Transportation Secretary Dizon ordered the creation of a Flagship Project Management Office (FPMO) to accelerate the implementation of major public transportation projects in line with the President’s directive to ease commuter woes.
Dizon signed Department Order 2025-002 dated February 26, 2025, tasking the FPMO to oversee key infrastructure flagship projects and ensure maximum effort and resources are allocated for their timely completion.
Among the priority projects under its supervision are the Metro Manila Subway Project, North-South Commuter Railway, EDSA Busway, EDSA Greenways, Cebu Bus Rapid Transit, and Davao Public Transport Modernization Project.
Dizon said he will personally lead the FPMO, emphasizing the need for strict timelines to speed up progress.
“I will head (this office). I will personally focus on these projects and these will be guided by very strict timelines. So, we will impose deadlines for these projects,” the DOTr chief said in a news release.