VANCOUVER, Canada — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) dismissed as “nonsense” calls to oust him, insisting that it was he who exposed anomalies in flood control projects.
In a media interview in Canada, Marcos said irregularities in flood control projects were only disclosed during his watch, noting that past presidents had failed to look into the issue that happened “beyond [his] administration.” “If I hadn’t said what I said in the SONA (State of the Nation Address), we wouldn’t be talking about this. I’m the one who exposed all of this. And I’m the only one who has started to do anything about this,” Marcos said.
“Have they imprisoned anyone? Have they frozen any accounts? Have they conducted any investigations? None. Only in this administration. Then they will say, I’m the one who did it. Well, if it was really my racket, why would I ruin my racket? That makes absolutely no sense,” he said.
The president said the government is “not done yet” in holding accountable all those involved in the flood control scandal.
“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,” he said.
Marcos said that even his predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte, had acknowledged problems in flood control projects but said no officials were ever held accountable.
“Having acknowledged it, it did not find accountability in anybody. So, I guess that it was left up to me,” he said.
Marcos said his administration has continued expanding its investigation, uncovering more questionable projects as authorities dig deeper into government records.
“As I said, the more we look, the more we investigate, the more we find,” he said, describing the anomalies as a deeply entrenched system of corruption that cannot be solved through prosecutions alone.
“This is a deep-seated system of corruption that requires not only structural changes in the way government is run and in the way the budget is written, but also a change in attitude,” Marcos said.
The president said some officials have become grown to accept kickbacks from government projects as normal practice.
“They put all kinds of nice words to it, rebate or whatever. That’s a kickback,” he said.
Marcos also rejected allegations that his administration is pursuing selective justice 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.
Marcos said the government has maintained an inventory not only of contractors but also of flood control projects linked to irregularities.
He said the list he previously disclosed has been investigated, with some contractors now facing cases, and their bank accounts frozen.
“There were one or two where, although they were named and had large contracts, it turned out there was no problem,” Marcos said.
He declined to comment on the Office of the Ombudsman’s decision to discharge former Public Works secretary Manuel Bonoan as a state witness in its investigation, saying it falls within the Ombudsman’s authority.
The president said the executive branch would not interfere in the Ombudsman’s evaluation of the matter.
“It’s up to the Ombudsman to decide on how to proceed with all of these investigations, and if he feels that former secretary Manny Bonoan will be helpful to the cases, it is his prerogative,” Marcos said.
