Villar has President’s trust despite continued corruption in DPWH

PUBLIC WORKS and Highways Secretary Mark A. Villar continues to have the trust of President Rodrigo R. Duterte despite the corruption allegations in the agency he heads, the presidential spokesman said on Thursday. “Full trust and confidence po in Secretary Villar because despite the corruption in DPWH ( Department of Public Works and Highways), he was able to deliver,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, speaking in mixed Filipino and English, said in an online briefing. “It helps,” he added, that the Villar family “has more money than DPWH.” Mr. Villar’s father is businessman and former senator Manuel B. Villar, Jr., the richest Filipino with a net worth of $ 5.6 billion (about P283.11 billion) based on Forbes Magazine’s 2020 list of world billionaires. Mr. Duterte himself, in a televised briefing late Wednesday, alleged that there is corruption in DPWH. The department has been ranked as the one of the most corrupt in the country by the Presidential Anti- Corruption Commission. Mr. Duterte cited contractors and project engineers as among those involved in corruption. Mr. Roque said the President made the statement to highlight the challenges in his remaining term to stop corruption in government, particularly in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. ( PhilHealth) and DPWH. He added that it is possible that the President will call for an investigation of DPWH, but focus for now is on cleaning up PhilHealth. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas