With public anger growing over the corruption scandal involving government flood control projects, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has issued a “disinformation alert” declaring its stand against calls by some groups for its intervention. “These are clear attempts to sow doubt and erode trust in your Armed Forces. The AFP is a professional...
Tag: corruption
Post
‘Not an easy choice’: Magalong resigns from ICI
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong quit his post as a special adviser of the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) on Friday, the same day Malacañang said his appointment is under review due to possible conflict of interest. His resignation was “not an easy choice, but one I believe is necessary,” Magalong said in a statement...
Post
Return the money, jail the crooks: Vigorous protests again animate the motherland
The sun blazed all morning Sunday and rain poured intermittently starting in the early afternoon in Metro Manila. Still, attendance was vigorous at the twin protest rallies—dubbed “Baha sa Luneta” at Rizal Park and “Trillion Peso March” at the People Power Monument on Edsa—condemning the brazen corruption in flood control projects and demanding accountability. Attendance...
Post
Subdivision residents upset at discovery that Discaya firm bagged contract for bridge rehab project
ALABANG, Muntinlupa City — With the revocation of the project contractor’s license, residents of a private subdivision here are questioning the scheduled closure next month of a bridge to pave the way for retrofitting the South Luzon Expressway crossing. To their surprise and consternation, the residents of Pleasant Village learned just last week that the...
Post
Romualdez quits the speakership in yet another offshoot of the flood control corruption scandal
After weeks of speculation, the House of Representatives has switched leadership from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first cousin to an ally who belongs to a political dynasty in Isabela. Leyte (1st district) Rep. Martin Romualdez resigned the speakership on Wednesday amid accusations of corruption involving flood control projects and of “insertions” in the 2025 budget....
Post
From ‘Baha sa Luneta’ to ‘Trillion Peso March,’ Sept. 21 is a day of protest against corruption and for accountability
Street protests against corruption on Sept. 21 will culminate in a grand rally at the People Power Monument in the hope of reliving the “Edsa spirit” that led to the ouster of strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. But the goal is to hold erring officials accountable, not to topple President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the late...
Post
Marcos names ex-SC justice Andres Reyes as flood control probe chair, vows no one will be spared
Not even his cousin Speaker Martin Romualdez or his political allies will be spared in the inquiry of the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) into corruption in multibillion-peso flood control projects, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday as he appointed former Supreme Court associate justice Andres Reyes as its chair. With Reyes’ appointment, the...
Post
Still flooded with ghosts, but the plunder levels are unprecedented
Having ghost projects in our public works is neither new nor surprising. We’ve always had ghosts in all aspects of our government and politics, from ghost voters (resurrected from the dead) to ghost employees and ghost parents (named in fraudulent birth certificates). What is new is the breadth, depth and brazenness of the plunder of...
Post
Name, shame, prosecute: Lacson plumbs the ‘national sewer of corrupted flood control projects’
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson has linked recently resigned public works secretary Manuel Bonoan to a government contractor of multibillion-peso flood control projects in Bulacan, a province that, he said, “has proven to be the national sewer of corrupted flood control projects.” Delivering on Tuesday the second part of his privilege speech titled “Flooded Gates...
Post
Escudero loses Senate presidency to Sotto as scandal over multibillion-peso flood projects rages
Francis Escudero lost the Senate presidency to Vicente Sotto III on Monday, just over a month after his reelection to the post—a sign that senators are listening to public opinion, according to a political analyst. The change in leadership in the Senate occurred in the face of growing public anger over the government’s multibillion-peso flood...