Department of Transportation (Philippines)

The Department of Transportation (DOTr; Filipino: Kagawaran ng Transportasyon) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the maintenance and expansion of viable, efficient, and dependable transportation systems as effective instruments for national recovery and economic progress. It is responsible for the country's land, air, and sea communications infrastructure.
Until June 30, 2016, the department was named Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC; Filipino: Kagawarán ng Transportasyón at Komunikasyón). With Republic Act No. 10844 or "An Act Creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology", signed into law on May 20, 2016 during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, the Information and Communications Technology Office was spun off the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and merged with all operative units of the DOTC dealing with communications, to form the new Department of Information and Communications Technology.
From 1899 to 1979, all transportation activities were integrated into the structure and activities of what is now the Department of Public Works and Highways.
On July 28, 1979, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), headed by Minister José P. Dans Jr., was formally created pursuant to Executive Order No. 546. Under this Executive Order, the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Communications (MPWTC) was divided into two separate ministries: The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) and the Ministry of Public Works and Highways (MPWH).
The MOTC became the primary policy, planning, programming, coordinating, implementing and administrative entity of the executive branch of the government in the promotion, development and regulation of a dependable and coordinated network of transportation and communication systems.
The infrastructure projects undertaken during this period included:
It was also during this period that the motor vehicle registration and control was improved with the introduction of permanent vehicle license plates and the staggered registration system. A bus leasing program provided an additional 1,000 new buses in Metro Manila.
The operations of both the Philippine National Railways and the Metro Manila Transit Corporation were improved and expanded. At the same time, the Manila South Line of the PNR serving the Bicol Region was rehabilitated.
On February 26, 1986, just after the 1986 EDSA Revolution, Congressman Hernando B. Pérez was appointed Minister of Transportation and Communication by President Corazon C. Aquino.
In March 1987, technocrat Rainerio O. Reyes, was appointed Minister of MOTC. Immediately after, the MOTC was reorganized pursuant to Executive Order Nos. 125, and 125-A. With these Executive Orders, the MOTC was made into a department, under the Executive branch of the Government.
Under Secretary Reyes, the quasi-judicial functions of the department were transferred to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, which was created through Executive Order No. 202.
Jesus B. Garcia was appointed Secretary of the DOTC by President Fidel V. Ramos. Under Garcia, new entrants were allowed in the landline and cellular phone services, and dilapidated taxi cabs were also phased out in favor of brand new and late model units.
In early 1995, then-Senator Ernesto Maceda ranked the DOTC first in his "Flagship Centers of Corruption and Inefficiency" scorecard for 1994 out of all the government agencies, citing its alleged irregular transactions for projects related to telecommunication. Maceda previously ranked it second for the year 1993.
By 2016, the foundation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology caused the DOTC to become simply the Department of Transportation (DOTr) as the DICT transferred the DOTC's communications agencies to it.
In July 2017, the Agency began transferring its main operations from its longtime headquarters at Columbia Tower in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila to Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone in Mabalacat, Pampanga. However, as of 2022, the move was planned to be reversed as a result of a survey conducted among DOTr employees. The department still owns office spaces at the Columbia Tower, while the Office of the Secretary is currently located in the head office of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in Pasay.
During the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, DOTr pursued numerous transportation projects as part of the Build! Build! Build! infrastructure program of the government, with ₱3.6 trillion worth of public infrastructure projects being rolled out from 2018 to 2022.
In March 2024, DOTr and San Miguel Corporation officially inked the P170.6-billion Public-Private Partnership (PPP) deal aimed at reviving Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). The signing ceremony, held in Malacañang, was graced by President Ferdinand Marcos.
The Metro Manila Subway, originally named Mega Manila Subway, is an approved underground rapid transit line to be built initially in Metro Manila in the Philippines.
The subway project was fast-tracked with the announcement on February 5, 2021, that 25 tunnel boring machines will be used for the subway's construction. Planned partial operations of the subway was revised to sometime between December 2021 and February 2022.
On April 27, 2021, the Department of Transportation announced that the underground works for the subway will start in the 4th quarter of 2021.
The North–South Commuter Railway is an under-construction commuter rail from New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac to Calamba, Laguna. The North Line will have a length of 106-kilometer, from Tutuban in Manila to New Clark City, and is expected to be completed by 2021. The South Line will be reconstructed as an electrified standard-gauge full double-track line.
Pre-construction work such as clearing of the right of way had been started in January 2018. Construction commenced in February 2019.
The department is headed by the Secretary of Transportation, with the following nine undersecretaries and ten assistant secretaries