Outgoing Secretary Rogelio L. Singson on Wednesday, June 22 2016, visited the DPWH XI Regional Office in Davao City as part of his final tour of the DPWH Regional Offices all over the country. He was welcomed by no less than Regional Director Mariano R. Alquiza, ARD Tomas Rodriguez and more than a hundred well-wishers from the Regional and District Offices.
In his farewell speech, Sec. Singson recalled how he took the job as Secretary of the once corruption-riddled agency was a calling and that his acceptance of the job had a purpose. According to Singson, “my purpose was to serve God and country and I felt it was in DPWH that I could do that.”
Citing the theme of the agency’s 118th Anniversary, “Serbisyo Tungo sa Patuloy na Pagbabago,” he appealed to all employees to continue what has been started. “My request is, let us help the Duterte administration succeed with what they have to do and most importantly let us help incoming Secretary Villar so that he will succeed and the department will also succeed.” He was also happy to say that he has Villar’s commitment to continue the agency’s good governance and anti-corruption (reform) programs.
RD Alquiza, for his part, thanked the outgoing Secretary for bringing about the positive change that the agency has been longing for, “it was through the initiatives of the Secretary (Singson) that this agency, which used to be referred to as a hub of corruption in the past administrations has become an exemplar of honest and effective service,” said Alquiza. He also expressed his admiration of Singson’s simplicity and his credibility as a role-model, not only for the Department but for the entire bureaucracy.