Resigning from office is ‘not enough’ to clear officials behind anomalous infrastructure projects, as they must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law for the loss of lives and other damage they caused, President Marcos said.
In his latest podcast interview released by the Presidential Communications Office yesterday, Marcos stressed that accountability extends beyond stepping down from office, especially when negligence or corruption results in devastating consequences.
‘That’s not sufficient. That’s not enough,’ the President said, rejecting Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano’s call for his resignation as well as of the Vice President and all lawmakers to pave the way for snap elections.
Marcos said flawed, substandard and ghost flood control projects have caused a great deal of damage, not only financial and economic but actual harm to people’s lives.
‘A lousy flood control project that collapsed during the flood, that killed a family. I mean, how can you live with that? I can’t live with it. So, I won’t live with it. So, I – we’ll keep pushing (for prosecution),’ the President said.
Marcos also stressed he exposed irregularities in flood control projects not for political reasons but because he cannot allow ‘deeply entrenched’ corruption to continue. ‘Why would I even start such a thing if it was somehow for political advantage?’ he said.
‘The reason I brought it up and made it part of the national discourse was quite simply because this could not go on. Because if it kept going – suddenly you discovered how deeply entrenched this entire system was,’ he said.
‘Nothing will happen to the Philippines if we carry on this way. The economy will never grow properly. People are not going to get helped. The schools will not get better. The hospitals will not get better. We will not get anywhere,’ Marcos pointed out.
During the interview, the President stressed the need to build airtight cases against those who benefited from the anomalies, accusing them of stealing the future of communities.
‘Look, what will happen: we rush it, the evidence is not complete, our evidence is unclear, but we forced it. The case is dismissed. Can you imagine? I think that would be much, much, much, much worse,’ Marcos said.
Marcos accepted last month the resignation of Manuel Bonoan as secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways while other public works officials had been dismissed.
Former House appropriations committee chairman Zaldy Co, whose whereabouts are unknown, also resigned after being linked to the flood control scandal.
Funds won’t be wasted
With the country getting bad press over the multibillion-peso flood control controversy, Marcos assured the country’s development partners at a forum yesterday that he would not allow state funds to be wasted as he vowed to reduce bottlenecks that hinder the optimal use of funding assistance.
Speaking at the Philippine Development Forum, Marcos said his administration continues to listen to the concerns and recommendations of its development partners and is ‘determined to go further.’
‘No money will be wasted. We will not allow the money of the nation to be wasted,’ the President said during the event, attended by members of the diplomatic community as well as by representatives of the World Bank.
Marcos said the national budget should serve as the Philippines’ ‘moral and economic compass’ and ‘must always point toward making life better for our people.’
He also said that measures are in place to ensure that assistance from development partners is optimized. The government has strategically channeled official development assistance (ODA) toward vital sectors such as education, health care, infrastructure, social protection, agriculture and disaster risk resilience.
‘We know that funding alone is not enough. Critical bottlenecks and systemic challenges have long hindered us from optimally utilizing the ODA. So, we are taking action,’ the President said.
‘To streamline the process, cut bureaucratic delays, accelerate public service, we have revised the Investment Coordination Committee guidelines, the first comprehensive update in a decade,’ he maintained.
Marcos also highlighted measures designed to strengthen the educational system like enhancing early childhood care and development, prioritizing foundational skills such as reading and literacy and ensuring that every learner has a safe and conducive environment for growth.
He ordered the Department of Economy, Planning and Development, as well as the budget and finance departments and other concerned agencies to ensure that the administration’s highest priorities – especially education – receive appropriate funding and support.