VANCOUVER, Canada — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) said that the government is not yet done ferreting out all those accountable in the flood control scandal.
Marcos said the controversy may have started before his administration.
He said that former president Rodrigo Duterte acknowledged that there were great problems in flood control but nothing happened.
“Well, I cannot say that we have done enough because we are not done yet. Unfortunately, the more we look, the more we find. And it is going already back beyond my administration, beyond my term,” Marcos said.
“And so we are still doing it. We’re still working on it. As I said, the more we look, the more we investigate, the more we find. And this is a deep-seated system of corruption that requires not only structural changes in the way government is run, in the way the budget is written, but also a change in attitude,” he added.
As early as 2018, former Camarines Sur 1st District representative Rolando “Nonoy” Andaya Jr. sounded the alarm on the flood control mess, the president said.
Marcos said that the pattern of alleged anomalies could be traced back to 2017 and 2018, adding that while the issue had been acknowledged at the time, accountability was not established.
“So when we look at what happened last year or the year before, then we can see that the pattern extends beyond 2022, back beyond 2022, and back to about that time, 2017-2018,” Marcos said.
He said investigations continued to reveal more cases, underscoring the need for comprehensive reforms.
The president described corruption as a deeply rooted problem that cannot be addressed solely through investigations but also requires changes in government systems and institutional culture.
“This is a deep-seated system of corruption that requires not only structural changes in the way government is run, in the way the budget is written, but also a change in attitude,” he said. “That’s the hardest part to change — the culture within government.” Marcos said that some officials have become accustomed to receiving kickbacks from government projects.
“They put all kinds of nice words to it, rebate or whatever. That’s a kickback,” he said. “Some think they have the right to do that.” Marcos also rejected allegations that his administration is being selective in its investigation of flood control anomalies.
“From the time that we formed the independent commission, I said we’ll just follow the evidence, and we’ll continue to do that,” he said.
