Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Arrey Perez resigned from his post on Friday, saying he wanted to protect the government’s efforts to pursue those involved in anomalous flood control projects.
Perez said in a statement that his resignation was meant to insulate the DPWH’s campaign against corruption from political interference.
“I resigned because I know that the malicious insinuations against me will only turn public service into a political game,” he said.
Perez stressed that he would not allow himself to be used by individuals trying to divert attention from the ongoing probe into the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.
“Let the fight against corruption continue, and let me continue to do my work in it from a position of integrity,” he added.
Perez tendered his irrevocable resignation after Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste accused him of having links with certain contractors allegedly involved in the corruption scheme.
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon praised Perez’s decision, describing it as an act of selflessness amid baseless accusations.
“He said it is very seldom for people to see a government official who is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good,” Dizon said in an interview over Bilyonaryo News Channel on Friday night. “That is something that is personal to him, and I would have to respect that.”
In a separate interview with ABS-CBN News, Dizon revealed that more DPWH officers and personnel would be dismissed as part of the government’s continuing probe into anomalous flood control projects.
He added that more criminal cases would be filed as new information surfaces about widespread corruption in the agency.
So far, Dizon has dismissed engineers Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez, and Jaypee Mendoza—former staff of the now-infamous Bulacan First District Engineering Office, which has been linked to the irregular flood control contracts.