New Faces, Same Test: Can ‘Young Blood’ Fix a Broken System?
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon has introduced young blood engineers as the new officers in charge of the controversial Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office, following the flood-control scandal that rocked the agency.
“We’re not here for money, but for solutions,” Dizon said—framing the move as a reset, a chance to restore credibility and competence within DPWH.
On paper, the message sounds hopeful.
Fresh minds. Clean slates. No baggage.
But the Eagle asks a harder question:
Is replacing faces enough when the system itself remains untouched?
Flood-control failures are rarely the work of a single office—or a single generation. They are the result of longstanding processes, weak oversight, and incentives that reward compliance over courage.
Young engineers may bring integrity.
They may bring idealism.
But idealism alone cannot survive inside a structure that resists transparency.
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📖 “Do not pour new wine into old wineskins.” — Luke 5:37
Leadership is not just about appointing new people.
It is about changing how decisions are made, how projects are approved, and how money is tracked.
If these young officers are truly empowered—protected from political pressure, shielded from coercion, and backed by firm accountability—then reform has a chance.
But if they are merely placed at the front while old habits operate behind the scenes, then this becomes not reform—but rebranding.
The country has seen this pattern before:
New faces introduced, scandals fade, systems stay intact.
This moment will matter not because of who was appointed—but because of what happens when they refuse to follow old instructions.
