After taking his oath a few weeks ago, acting Public Works Secretary Victor Domingo pledged to repair the infrastructure network destroyed by a series of storms, build new ones, curb corruption in his department and help the country get back on its feet to march to a new horizon.

Domingo, who served as Presidential Adviser on New Government Centers, has begun to fulfill his pledge.
One of his first acts was to order the investigation of the DPWH district engineer in Guimaras, Iloilo, for alleged corruption. He promised more exemplary action in the agency that historically has been identified with public graft and highway robbery.

Repairing the integrity of the public works office is as important as rebuilding damaged roads or constructing new ones. Public trust is indispensable for an agency entrusted with billions of pesos for infrastructure building, an activity long identified with fat commissions, below-quality materials and shoddy construction work. Foreign investors and international financial institutions will withhold their participation in Philippine development if the government continues to tolerate theft on the highways.

There will be plenty of damaged highways to repair and new growth corridors (proposed by President Gloria Arroyo in her State of the Nation Address) to build. Domingo’s problem is time, he does not have enough. The DPWH is also running out of money. Too many congressmen, governors and mayors are lining up outside his office demanding attention. Rehabilitation work is slowed down by old and decaying equipment.

As he looks at the Big Picture, the former head of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office should stoop to a few basics. He needs to improve occupational and public safety in construction activities by the private sector, and order private utilities to exercise more responsibility when tearing up roads for repair work. We could use more aesthetics in the planning and building of public parks and plazas. There is room for art in our public spaces.

Domingo may no longer be the adviser for new government centers, but he could help the succeeding administrations by keeping his interest in bureaucratic restructuring and growth reallocation. We need fresh ideas for relocating the seat of power and identifying a new site for an administrative or political capital. As the country modernizes, we have to redefine our concept of a national center to disperse development, upgrade public services, decongest Metropolitan Manila and improve the national image on the global stage.


Gonzales’ laundry list

Acting Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales’ immediate task is to help the PNP find the persons involved in the ambush and killing of the 57 civilians seized and murdered November 23 in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

The mass murder is the worst in the history of Philippine political violence. The Department of Justice has filed murder charges against the members of the Ampatuan family but finding the killers, witnesses and other participants in the slayings requires urgency.

In the long term, Gonzales must take a more active part quelling the communist New People’s Army insurgency and the Abu Sayyaf terrorism. He should help the Palace secure a peace settlement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and possibly a separate one with the National Democratic Front.

The three wars are setting development back, claiming huge casualties among the civilian population and the combatants, sapping the strength of the military and costing billions of pesos that should be channeled to development and rebuilding in Mindanao and Sulu.

With little time on his watch, Gonzales must do what he can to speed up the modernization of the AFP. The task calls for strengthening the self-defense capability of the military with new and reliable ships, aircraft and weapons for the three commands.

Modernization must embrace improvement of life and work for the troops and their families. An affordable housing program, improved pay, more commissary stores and a decent retirement to look forward to will help address grievances and moderate military adventurism. More benefits would improve morale and work ethic.

Gonzales assumed office with misgivings from civil society groups about his past work, but he could overturn their worries by doing his work with passion and a sense of mission. He could borrow a leaf from his predecessor, former Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro who, in less than two years, upgraded service in the military, improved the lot of the fighting man, neutralized the NPA across the country and strengthened national security.

Teodoro capped his assignment at the DND with yeoman’s work directing, coordinating and delivering humanitarian service during the series of storms that ravaged Luzon. In that spirit and with similar
devotion, Gonzales could quietly take the usefulness of his office to a higher plane for the national good and for the good of the soldier and the soldier’s family.