President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said on Monday that he will not name individuals involved in alleged anomalies in flood control projects until he has verified all sides of the story.
Marcos held a press conference to address the issue following his State of the Nation Address (SONA) statement that the government will investigate flood control projects that are either 'incomplete or completely nonexistent' and disclose it to public. He also launched the “Isumbong sa Pangulo” website, which allows the public to access information on flood control projects nationwide, including project costs, contractors, and other details.
According to Marcos, he needs to hear from all concerned parties first to determine if there are inconsistencies in the projects, especially since many have reportedly failed. If an actual anomaly is confirmed, he said he will take action.
“Wala na ba talaga tayong investigative journalist dito sa Pilipinas? Trabaho niya ‘yan. Look it up,” said Marcos when the media asked about the 15 contractors linking government officials.
“We are going to look at it also, but it’s very–it will be premature for me to name names etc., until we really know what’s going on,” he said.
The President also said that he received various complaints, both justified and not, with regards to disagreements or political conflicts. However, he assured that he will still go through with every single one from credible sources before acting upon it as they cannot release unverified information about the anomalies in flood control projects.
“Let’s be fair to everyone and not say oh ito si ganito, ito si ganyan, ito si ganyan tanggal ka sa trabaho, unless we have a good idea of what went wrong, ” he added.
Furthermore, Marcos disclosed that there are 6,021 projects worth over P350 billion that are unclear about what type of flood control was being built.
He expressed his concern about the results of the initial investigation in flood control projects finding 20 percent of more than ₱545 billion budget went to just 15 contractors.
Of the 15 contractors, 5 of them have projects nationwide. He added that there are several projects in different areas with the exact same contract value.
