Marcos Jr. Blames Duterte for Inaction on Flood Control Anomalies

MANILA, Philippines — For the first time, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. publicly called out his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, for failing to act on anomalous flood control projects during his term, leaving the current administration to clean up the massive corruption scandal. On Saturday, Marcos answered critics of his administration who criticized him for his alleged snail-paced investigation and selective justice in exacting accountability from those behind the massive corruption scandal. The president countered that, had he not exposed the issue in his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona) in July last year, the multibillion-peso scheme between contractors and some lawmakers and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) would not have been addressed. Marcos criticized Duterte for doing nothing about the ghost flood control projects of the DPWH, despite learning about the “great problems” early on in his term. “But nothing happened. Having acknowledged it, he did not find accountability in anybody. So I guess that was left up [for] me to do,” he told reporters in Vancouver as he concluded his official visit to Canada. “I’m the one who exposed all of this. And I’m the only one who has started doing something about it,” the president said. “Did previous presidents do something like this? Did you see any of them put anyone in jail? Did they freeze accounts? Did they conduct investigations? There were none. It only happened under me,” he added. READ: ‘Nonsense’, Marcos says on oust calls over slow flood control probe He questioned groups and individuals who accused him of being behind the flood control mess. “If that were really my racket, why would I ruin it in the first place? That makes absolutely no sense,” he said. Marcos noted that as early as 2018, then-House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. publicly exposed what he described as a P300-billion flood control anomaly. Citing information from a town mayor from the Bicol region, Andaya said a former member of Duterte’s Cabinet, who resigned to run for public office, had facilitated the “parking” of P300 million for a flood mitigation project in his municipality. The controversy also involved allocations worth hundreds of billions of pesos and raised questions about a disputed P75-billion DPWH budget insertion process. Previous pushbacks from the Marcos administration in defense of the flood control investigation have been relayed mostly by Malacañang, through its press officer, Undersecretary Claire Castro, or other officials under the executive branch. Marcos also denied his administration was doing selective justice by only prosecuting and jailing those who are considered against him and his government. “From the time we formed the independent commission, I said we’ll just follow the evidence, and we’ll continue to do that,” he said. Last week, the Iglesia Ni Cristo staged a three-day demonstration in support of one of its members, Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, after the Office of the Ombudsman announced the filing of plunder charges against him. Marcoleta was a former chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, which investigated the flood control scandal, until he was replaced following changes in the Senate leadership. READ: ‘Message sent’: Iglesia ends mass action for Marcoleta on third day Marcos acknowledged, however, that the government was “not yet done” 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 already going back beyond my administration, beyond my term,” he said. In September 2025, Marcos issued Executive Order No. 94, creating the now-defunct Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) tasked with investigating questionable flood control projects for the past 10 years. However, it terminated its fact-finding mission in February this year, saying it had already completed its mandate. In the five months of its operations, the ICI came up with nine referrals, including those jointly filed with DPWH, which recommended various criminal and administrative charges against 65 individuals, lawmakers, contractors, and past and present officials of DPWH and the Commission on Audit. It said it also coordinated with the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the issuance of immigration lookout bulletin orders against 66 individuals tagged in the irregularities. Through ICI’s investigations, the Anti-Money Laundering Council secured orders from the Court of Appeals to freeze more than 6,700 bank accounts and assets amounting to P24.7 billion. Among the high-profile personalities detained for these investigations are Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, former Sen. Bong Revilla, former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, and several DPWH officials. Former Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co was also ordered arrested, but he remains hiding in Europe. Meanwhile, Marcos said the decision on whether or not Bonoan should be discharged as a state witness rests solely with the Office of the Ombudsman. According to the President, he has “complete faith” in the decision of Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, who previously served as his justice secretary. /atm