“The usual detractors and Doubting Thomases may get in the way, but Dizon is poised to fend off any opposition to his well-meaning plans”
BARELY a week into office, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon has emerged as a “disruptor,” a game changer comparable to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, now serving as US President Donald Trump’s chief of the Department of Government Efficiency.
According to Oxford, “disruptor” refers to a person, a company, or a form of technology that uses new ideas or methods to cause significant change in an industry or market in the modern sense of the word.
Dizon and Musk fit the bill, both public servants holding separate positions in two different but allied governments.
The billionaire Musk gained fame for revolutionizing mobility, first with Tesla, the electric car, and then, with SpaceX as the prime exponent of space travel/tourism.
On the other hand, Dizon may not have a vast fortune to crow about but his solid credentials of over 25 years of unblemished government service speak volumes.
There ends the parallelism.
Musk, a public service newbie teeming with the arrogance of a conquering master, has been winning more foes than friends as chief of Trump’s dreaded and hated DOGE.
Meanwhile, Dizon has become the new darling of the transportation industry with a promising and extended public service career.
His policy actions as transport czar reveal a vigorous determination to start with a clean slate and fast-track flagship projects that are most likely set back by five to seven years.
First, Dizon required his department’s senior officials by telling them to submit courtesy resignations.
His freeze order on cashless toll transactions for being anti-poor surprised the tollway concessionaires and thousands of motorists.
Days later, he issued an ultimatum to top officials of the Land Transportation Office to produce vehicle plates regularly by a certain minimum.
Insiders say LTO Chief Vigor was given 90 days to perform and deliver the required and stalled services like car plates, drivers’ licenses, among others. It’s a shortcut to saying they either shape up or ship out.
Then, he ordered a review of flagship projects under the wings of DOTr.
After installing a fresh set of officials to help him run the department — five undersecretaries, each holding a strategic position — Dizon created a new office which is tasked with conducting a performance audit on all units and divisions of the DOTr.
The Flagship Project Management Office will oversee transportation projects like the Metro Manila Subway and North-South Commuter Railway. He vowed to personally oversee FPMO.
It comes as Dizon’s quick response to President Ferdinand E. Marcos Jr.’s directive.
The FPMO is in charge of directing policies related to infrastructure, to ensure the maximum effort and resources for the DOTr.
Dizon promised to monitor personally the projects guided by stringent timelines.
“So, we will impose deadlines for these projects,” he said in an interview with reporters last week.
His management style resembles that of former Executive Secretary Oscar M. Orbos, the Transportation and Communications czar under then President Corazon Aquino. From Congress to DOTC, Orbos became the early 90’s “Boy Wonder in Philippine Politics.”
Like Orbos, Dizon is an action man, a doer, and a quick strategic thinker. These are traits nurtured by Dizon’s most recent role in the past administration as BCDA Chief who shone bright with the hosting of the important sporting venues of the 2019 ASEAN Games and later on as head implementer of the government task force on COVID-19 response. His job required critical thinking amid emergencies the pandemic brought about.
As transport chief, Dizon now faces many issues and challenges posed by a vast territory of land, sea, and air.
The LTO and LTFRB represent the inland enforcement and regulatory arms; PPA takes on the ports and inter-island sea travel, and; the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines tackles everything that involves flying and airlines.
It’s a question of priorities and Dizon has chosen the immediate rehabilitation of the EDSA Busway. The Marcos administration wants to showcase Metro Manila’s mass transport system as a successful experiment.
The usual detractors and Doubting Thomases may get in the way, but Dizon is poised to fend off any opposition to his well-meaning plans.
Alexander Graham Bell, the telephone inventor, once said: “The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action.”
These words will suit Dizon fine as he is not dubbed an action man for nothing. He should forge ahead, disruptions notwithstanding.
(MTV, book author and publisher, is president/chief executive officer of Media Touchstone Ventures, Inc. and president/executive director of the Million Trees Foundation Inc., a non-government outfit advocating tree-planting and environmental protection.)