Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines — Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar said Wednesday that he is still weighing out his options for 2022, or the year for the next national elections.
“Going to four and a half years, I felt I have done, ang dami kong natutunan (I have learned a lot) and I have experienced a lot. I am thinking about what [my] options are, whether political, private, so I am still weighing out on my options for 2022 and then we’ll see,” he said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
But Villar also said he wanted to rest after leading the DPWH, which implements the Duterte administration’s flagship infrastructure program called Build, Build, Build.
“Ako naman in my mind I always think, if it is not hard, it’s not good, it’s not worthwhile. Anything that is not worthwhile is never easy,” he added.
The DPWH chief then went on saying that the agency will be working “non-stop” to complete all the infrastructure projects that the government has promised to complete before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term.
“We are in the final, last two minutes of this administration. We will be working non-stop to make sure that all these commitments, the infrastructure commitments will be completed and you will already feel the improvement with what we have,” he said.
“In the next few years, you will see an impressive array of projects that will be delivered by this administration that has never been seen in the history of our country,” the official added.
Villar issued these remarks nearly a month after Duterte ordered the anti-corruption task force being led by the Department of Justice to focus on investigating alleged anomalies at the DPWH.
However, Malacañang said Villar still enjoys the “full trust and confidence” of the President despite calling out the alleged corruption within his department.
Nevertheless, Villar’s wife Justice Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay-Villar, pointed out that the DOJ-led investigation to stamp out corruption in government agencies will still include him if evidence warrants.