Press Conference on the Flood
Control Projects Scandal
delivered 15
September 2025, Kalayaan Hall, Malacañan Palace, The Philippines
Good
morning, everyone.
I asked to speak to all of you today so that I could bring you up-to-date -- and
report to the people about what has been happening concerning the ICI, at
maraming tanong
[and
there are many questions].
The ICI. We’ve come to call it the ICI because it is the Independent Commission
on Infrastructure and that is the independent commission that we are organizing.
And, as of yesterday, this is the way the commission is going to be organized:
Justice Andy Reyes will be the chairperson of the ICI. He was a presiding judge
of the Court of Appeals before. He has been for a very, very long time with a
very good record of honesty and fairness, and a good record of being able to
find justice for those who have been victimized.
And together with him are, of course Babes Singson, who I think is familiar to
everyone as a former DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways] secretary.
But beyond that, he has always been working in terms of the infrastructure. And,
as a former DPWH secretary, he has a good idea of… shall we say, where the
bodies are buried. So, that will give us immediately an advantage when we are
doing this -- not we, when the commission is doing its investigation.
And, of course, the last member is Rossana Fajardo who is the Country Managing
Partner of
SGV [SyCip Gorres Velayo] and Co.
She is a Certified Public Accountant and she has, again with her experience, and
we are hoping to take advantage also with some of the experts that they have in
SGV in terms of accounting, forensic accounting, all of these things that will
be necessary.
We have included
Mayor Benjie Magalong
as a special adviser as well. There have been questions as to why Mayor Benjie
has been included and the answer is very simple -- when I went to Baguio at
tiningnan ko iyong mga malabo na flood control project ay sinalubong niya kaagad
ako ng isang report. Imbestigador naman talaga si Mayor Benjie. Kung maalala
ninyo, he was the one who wrote, as
CIDG
[Criminal Investigation and Detection Group] head, he was the one who wrote the
seminal report on the Mamasapano incident and that was… immediately, that gave
me… put him -- that’s when I came to know of him and saw that he has integrity.
And then, again when I went to Baguio, mayroon na siyang -- being a good
investigator, he had a very, very detailed, very good report already. So, he’s
been working on this for a while so marami siyang mako-contribute.
[We
have included Mayor Benjie Magalong as a special adviser as well. There have
been questions as to why Mayor Benjie has been included and the answer is very
simple -- when I went to Baguio and looked at your shady flood control projects,
he immediately greeted me with a report. Mayor Benjie is really an investigator.
If you remember, he was the one who wrote, as
CIDG
[Criminal Investigation and Detection
Group] head, he was the one who wrote the seminal report on the Mamasapano
incident and that was… immediately, that gave me… put him -- that's when I came
to know of him and saw that he has integrity. And then, again when I went to
Baguio, he already had -- being a good investigator, he had a very, very
detailed, very good report already. So, he's been working on this for a while so
he can contribute a lot.]
So, what are the commission’s power? Well, there was a long discuss -- not a
long discuss -- those are discussions of course as to what were the powers to be
granted to the commission. And the debate centered around whether there will be…
they will have subpoena powers and they can also hold people in contempt.
Well, upon discussion with -- clearly that the subpoena powers were necessary.
However, the contempt powers, the power to hold people in contempt, I think was
not necessary simply because this is not a prosecutorial body -- this is an
investigative body. So, what the commission will do is that they will
investigate, they will call people in, they will subpoena records, they will
conduct hearings and once they have their findings, they will forward those
findings to the proper agency -- should it be the Ombudsman, should it be the
DOJ; if it’s an administrative case by government employees, sa Civil Service
Commission and all of the proper agencies, doon na sila magrekomenda
[at the Civil Service
Commission and all of the proper agencies, they will make a recommendation
there.]
And, if such personalities continue to avoid or not cooperate
with the Ombudsman or the DOJ, doon sila mako-contempt. So, we do not lose that
power and capability to hold people in contempt should they not cooperate,
should they not respect subpoenas, et cetera.
So, iyon na ngayon ang ating sitwasyon. We are in -- I’m very encouraged because
noong nakausap ko sila, all of them are in agreement that we have to move very
quickly and we have to get something done as quickly as possible. Hindi puwedeng
mapanis lahat itong information na binigay ng taumbayan doon sa Isumbong Mo sa
Pangulo. Kaya’t sabi namin, eh bilisan na lang talaga ninyo.
[So,
that's our situation now. We are in -- I'm very encouraged because when I spoke
to them, all of them are in agreement that we have to move very quickly and we
have to get something done as quickly as possible. We can't spoil all the
information that the people gave in the Report to the President. So that's why
we said -- just hurry up.]
And that’s why they have to meet as often as possible. That is for them to
decide, they have already decided to meet today to make the organizational
decisions that need to be made i.e., how the secretariat is going to be
organized, what sort of people they need to bring that, where their offices will
be, kahit iyong mga forms na gagawin para doon sa commission, they have to set
that. And when asked how often you plan on meeting, ang sagot sa akin araw-araw,
they will meet every day either privately or they will hold some -- I don’t know
if they plan to hold hearings in public, it is all up to them.
[And
that's why they have to meet as often as possible. That is for them to decide,
they have already decided to meet today to make the organizational decisions
that need to be made i.e., how the secretariat is going to be organized, what
sort of people they need to bring that, where their offices will be, even those
forms that will be made for that in the commission, they have to set that. And
when asked how often you plan on meeting, my answer is every day, they will meet
every day either privately or they will hold some -- I don't know if they plan
to hold hearings in public, it is all up to them.]
What I want to stress here is that the independent nature of this commission.
Hindi kami makikialam sa trabaho nila. We will, of course, be in discussion with
them. We will ask them ano na nangyari, what have you found, what are we doing
next, et cetera. But we are not about to direct them as to how they were going
to conduct their investigations and we are going to leave it up to them.
[What
I want to stress here is that the independent nature of this commission. We will
not interfere with their work. We will, of course, be in discussion with them.
We will ask them what happened, what have you found, what are we doing next, et
cetera. But we are not about to direct them as to how they were going to conduct
their investigations and we are going to leave it up to them.]
As a matter of fact, in our discussions with them, they also said, ‘May we make
suggestions? May we make proposals as to the procedure for bidding for all these
contracts para hindi na maulit ito?’
[so that this does not happen again?']
I was very encouraged because in my meetings with Justice Andy yesterday, sabi
niya [he said], “We have to make it nothing less than a turning point in the
conduct of governance in the Philippines. We have to make a change -- and it is
a fundamental change -- in the way that we do business.”
There are also -- have been questions as to why the scope of the investigation
is over 10 years or the last 10 years rather. The answer is two-fold, the
practical answer is this:
COA [Commission
on Audit] is only required to keep records for 10 years. So, those are the
records that we know we have na nakakasiguro tayo na matutulungan iyon;
pangalawa doon kaya we’ll do it for as long as possible dahil marami na tayong
napag-usapan at isa sa napakahalaga para sa akin ay malaman paano tayo napunta
sa ganito? Bakit nagkaganito iyong gobyerno natin? Papaano nangyari ito na
ganito iyong naging bidding? Papaano nangyari na ganito ang naging pagbigay ng
kontrata? How did this evolve?
[There
are also -- have been questions as to why the scope of the investigation is over
10 years or the last 10 years rather. The answer is two-fold, the practical
answer is this:
COA [Commission
on Audit] is only required to keep records for 10 years. So, those are the
records that we know we have that we can be sure will be helpful; secondly,
we’ll do it for as long as possible because we’ve talked a lot and one of the
most important things for me is to know how we got to this point? Why did our
government get like this? How did it happen that it was like this when you were
bidding? How did it happen that it was like this when you were awarding the
contract? How did this evolve?]
Dahil sa experience ko sa local government, sa experience ko sa legislature
hindi naman ganito. [Because
of my experience in local government, in my experience in the legislature, it's
not like this.]
Ngayon [Now],
we have to find out how this happened and what are the changes that we need to
make so that we make this into an inflection point in terms of how government
does its business and to make sure that the funds that belong to the people are
well spent and properly spent to the advantage of all of us, to advantage of the
economy, to advantage of those who are in danger areas. So, those are the two
reasons basically why the 10-year period was specified.
To go further, we are actually…now since we have
canceled all flood control projects for 2026,
those savings we already put a menu para nga unang-una kahit na for the budget
na sinusulat ngayon kailangan na maliwanag na maliwanag na mapupunta sa tamang
lugar and so we have made a menu for our legislators to follow then say that all
insertions, all changes made can only be made to the benefit of these agencies.
Here, we’ll give you this. You can take a picture now but we will give you a
proper image. And they basically cover education, agriculture, health, housing,
infra, ICT, labor, social, energy; pero ibang nature nito. So, that is the first
step that we are taking.
[To
go further, we are actually...now since we have
canceled all flood control projects for 2026,
those savings we already put a menu so that first even for the budget that is
being written now it is necessary that it is obvious that it will go to the
right place and so we have made a menu for our legislators to follow then say
that all insertions, all changes made can only be made to the benefit of these
agencies. Here, we'll give you this. You can take a picture now but we will give
you a proper image. And they basically cover education, agriculture, health,
housing, infra, ICT, labor, social, energy; but its a different nature. So, that
is the first step that we are taking.]
The other step, that I was a little surprise to find out was that kapag
tinanggal na iyong rule na dati na kapag may project ang national government sa
isang LGU kapag tapos na iyong project kailangan i-accept noong mayor, kailangan
i-accept noong governor, pati barangay captain kailangan tatanggapin iyan,
titingnan nila -- and this is an important safeguard dahil kapag nasa LGU ka
hindi mo naman pinagkikitaan iyong project kaya’t ang maliwanag ito’y titingnan
ninyo talaga na tama na iyong kalsada ay eight inches talaga iyong kongkreto,
kapag may asphalt overlay ay makapal talaga iyong asphalt overlay, iyong flood
control -- lahat iyan.
[The
other step, that I was a little surprised to find out was that when the rule
that used to be removed when the national government has a project in an
LGU [Local
Government Unit], when the project is finished, the mayor has to accept it, the
governor has to accept it, even the barangay captain has to accept it, they will
look at it -- and this is an important safeguard because when you are in the LGU,
you don't see your project, so what is clear is that you will really look at it
to make sure that the road is really eight inches of concrete, if there is an
asphalt overlay, the asphalt overlay is really thick, your flood control -- all
that.]
And so, I have instructed the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways],
and for that matter all of the departments to return that -- tinanggal in the
last administration iyan eh iyong acceptance. Maalala ko noong governor ako,
walang puwedeng sabihing completed kung hindi accepted ng local government.
Ibabalik natin iyon -- tinanggal nila in the last administration, we are putting
it back because that is one of the best safeguards that we have. So, that is
essentially the situation as it stands. We are trying to move as quickly as
possible.
[And
so, I have instructed the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways], and
for that matter all of the departments to return that -- it was removed in the
last administration, that is your acceptance. I remember when I was governor,
nothing could be said to be completed if it was not accepted by the local
government. We are putting it back -- they removed it in the last
administration, we are putting it back because that is one of the best
safeguards that we have. So, that is essentially the situation as it stands. We
are trying to move as quickly as possible.]
In the meantime, of course, our attention continues to be directed to the work
of government that the infrastructure development continues, that our education
program continues, that our social programs also continue nang walang patid
[without
interruption].
As a matter of fact, we are accelerating them and increasing them.
So, that’s generally the situation. So, now I’ll open the floor for questions.
KAT DOMINGO/ABS-CBN:
Good morning, Mr. President. Sir, in terms of priorities and focus, how
different would the investigation of your independent panel be compared to what
we’ve seen in the House and in the Senate?
PRESIDENT BONGBONG MARCOS:
It will be completely independent.
That’s something that cannot be said if for example the Senate conducts…well,
maraming nababanggit na senador; if the House conducts their investigation
marami ring nababanggit na congressman. Kaya sinasabi ng mga tao bakit naman
nag-iimbestiga sila but they are investigating themselves which is always a
little bit of a difficult situation na it’s hard to be fair.
[PRESIDENT
BONGBONG MARCOS:It will be completely
independent. That’s something that cannot be said if for example the Senate
conducts…well, there are many senators mentioned; if the House conducts their
investigation there are many congressmen mentioned. So people say why are they
investigating but they are investigating themselves which is always a little bit
of a difficult situation that it’s hard to be fair.]
But of course, as I said before, it’s their prerogative to conduct such
investigations. However, so as to be make it very, very clear to people that
this independent -- I would like to stress this, over and over again -- it is an
independent commission and that is why we have taken great pains to make
sure that that independence is respected, is recognized and it’s observed, and
that’s what we plan to do.
And the difference is that we can say, at least this commission can say, they
have no ties to any part of government. If you look, they are all personalities
who are out of government, except for Mayor Benjie Magalong. The reason he
became special adviser is because he would have had to give up his mayorship to
take on this position. So, he chose to keep his mayorship, I don’t blame him,
but nonetheless we can use his talent. But, you know, that the specific, that is
for us the differences that we can point to, to show that it is in fact,
independent.
KAT DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: Sir, just a follow-up
question: Congressman Toby Tiangco has blamed your cousin, House Speaker
Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, as well as former house appropriation Chair Zaldy
Co, as one of the culprits behind these schemes. Aside from repeatedly
mentioning that the panel will be independent, how do you convince the public
that your cousin and other allies both in the House and in the Senate would not
be spared from the scrutiny of this panel?
PBBM: Well, there’s only one way to do it --
they will not be spared. Anybody will say ‘ah hindi wala, wala tayong
kinikilingan, wala tayong tinutulungan, wala namang maniniwala sa iyo hangga’t
gawin mo eh, so gagawin namin ["Oh no, we're
not biased, we're not helping anyone, no one will believe you as long as you do
it, so we'll do it."]
RICHBON QUEVEDO/ DAILY TRIBUNE: Good
morning, Sir, can you tell us more about the selection process of the ICI? Were
there others po ba that who were considered to join the commission?
PBBM: We opened the process to people we
said that we need independent people to man or to occupy the position in the
commission. And so that’s we what are trying to do, many -- we contacted many
people and see if they’re willing. But essentially what we needed was somebody
like Justice Andy Reyes because he is a former justice and he will know how to
conduct those hearings, proceedings so that they are legally correct,
procedurally correct; and then Babe Singson, I think, is an obvious choice also
because he’s a former DPWH secretary. Also of course, a lot of the work will be
an accounting job, forensic accounting, so of course the expert Rossana Fajardo
from the SGV will be able to provide that expertise. So, I think we’ve covered
all of the important areas that need to be handled.
Beyond that, I cannot tell you how the commission will organize itself. I cannot
tell what the secretariat will look like. And the reason I cannot tell you is
that these are not my decisions to make anymore; those decisions will be made by
the commission.
ANN SOBERANO/BOMBO RADYO: Mr. President,
good morning po. Sir, hindi matatawaran ang track record ni Mayor Benjamin
Magalong, lalo na po iyong stint niya during CIDG chief siya, pero may we know
your thoughts, Mr. President, in choosing Mayor Magalong as special adviser and
investigator ng ICI, instead of tapping the NBI and the PNP-CIDG, kasi na-mention
ninyo po hindi po kayo magsasama ng politiko po sa komisyon, although, special
adviser naman po siya, Mr. President, thank you.
[ANN SOBERANO/BOMBO
RADYO: Mr. President, good morning. Sir, Mayor Benjamin Magalong's
track record is undeniable, especially his stint as CIDG chief, but we know your
thoughts, Mr. President, in choosing Mayor Magalong as special adviser and
investigator of the ICI, instead of tapping the NBI and the PNP-CIDG, because
you mentioned that you will not include a politician in the commission, although
he is a special adviser, Mr. President. Thank you.]
PBBM: Because NBI and all of those are part
of the government. So, again there is -- if there is a suspicion that maybe in
the investigation -- the previous investigation ay baka tinulungan sila ng mga
kasama nila sa NBI mga ganoon, these things happen. So, para matanggal na iyong
possibility na ganoon ang mangyari, wala talagang kasama kundi sila. Pero,
eventually pupunta rin iyan doon kasi kung may findings ang ICI na ang
recommendation ay dalhin sa Ombudsman halimbawa, magko-conduct sila ng
investigation, DOJ magko-conduct sila ng investigation. But a large -- of
course, they will be able to take note of the investigation that was already
conducted by the independent commission in that case that we can -- the
preliminary investigation will not start from square one, but will continue to
build on what has already been found by the ICI.
[PBBM:
Because NBI and all of those are part of the government. So, again there is --
if there is a suspicion that maybe in the investigation -- the previous
investigation was probably helped by their colleagues in the NBI, these things
happen. So, to eliminate the possibility that this will happen, there is no one
really involved but them. But, eventually it will go there because if the ICI
has findings that the recommendation is taken to the Ombudsman for example, they
will conduct an investigation, DOJ will conduct an investigation. But a large --
of course, they will be able to take note of the investigation that was already
conducted by the independent commission in that case that we can -- the
preliminary investigation will not start from square one, but will continue to
build on what has already been found by the ICI.]
LETH NARCISO/DZRH: Good morning, Mr.
President, IBON Foundation said that billions of flood control funds
concentrated in the ruling parties, may we get your comment, sir? Are you aware
of it?
PBBM: That is the case in every single
legislative body. Siyempre, the majority party is the majority party, so sila
ang pinakamarami. But again, there is nothing particular about that, because
talagang pupunta -- they are the most numerous in the House for example, LAKAS
is the most numerous in the House so they will have the most locally funded
projects. The problem here is not the amount. The problem here is the use of
those funds. Kahit naman sa kanila napunta lahat, kung maganda ang patakbo, di
walang problema. Kung iyang flood control, napakaganda; kung iyong lahat ng
project, napakaganda; iyong dredging, perfect, di ano ang problema? Walang
problema!
[PBBM:
That is the case in every single legislative body. Of course, the majority party
is the majority party, so they are the most numerous. But again, there is
nothing particular about that, because they are really going to -- they are the
most numerous in the House for example, LAKAS is the most numerous in the House
so they will have the most locally funded projects. The problem here is not the
amount. The problem here is the use of those funds. Even if they all went, if
they are running well, there is no problem. If that flood control is great; if
all your projects are great; your dredging is perfect, what is the problem? No
problem!]
But that is not the problem. That is not where the problem lies. The problem
lies in the actual implementation of the projects. That is what we are
investigating. Ginagawang pulitika na naman [It's
being made political again.]
That is what we wanted to do, remove it from politics, don’t politicize this.
It’s simple numbers dito, simple lang ito. Magkano ang ninakaw na pera ng mga
balasubas na ito? That is what we need to know, that is what we need to fix. Now
that you bring it up, one of the things that we are looking at dahil iniisip ko,
kakasuhan natin sila. Then, okay the cases will go on, may mga mananagot,
mayroon diyang makukulong, mayroon diyang mapa-fire, whatever.
[That is what we wanted to do, remove it
from politics, don’t politicize this. It’s simple numbers here, it’s simple. How
much money did these scammers steal? That is what we need to know, that is what
we need to fix. Now that you bring it up, one of the things that we are looking
at because I think we will prosecute them. Then, okay the cases will go on,
there will be those who will be held accountable, some who will be imprisoned,
some who will be fired, whatever.]
Para sa akin kailangang buuin nila iyong project dahil kung titingnan ninyo, may
warranty lahat iyang project na iyan. Kahit sinabi nilang completed, kapag
nadiskubre na hindi tama ang pagkagawa they still have to respect, they still
have to honor the warranty that they have given us to complete the project
properly. So, we can still go back to them at sasabihin natin sa kanila,
‘balikan ninyo iyong walang kuwentang project na ginawa ninyo at ayusin ninyo na
maganda, out of your own pocket’, number one.
[For me, they need to complete the project
because if you look at it, all that project has a warranty. Even if they say
it's completed, when it's discovered that it wasn't done properly, they still
have to respect, they still have to honor the warranty that they have given us
to complete the project properly. So, we can still go back to them and say, 'go
back to that useless project you did and fix it right, out of your own pocket',
number one.]
Now, I don’t know what will happen after the ICI will make their findings known
to whatever agency kung they will be fined? Nasa sa kanila na iyan. Again, it’s
beyond the executive’s purview. So that, I think, let’s not focus on the
politics of it. Let us focus on simple, simple pesos and centavos of it.
IVAN MAYRINA/GMA 7: Mr. President, while the
ICI is just about to begin its work, protest actions have already been mounted
and more are being organized, the one on the 21st are expected to be big. Is
this a cause of concern for you that it might potentially snowball into
something similar to what happened in Nepal or Indonesia?
PBBM: Well, that is only if we don’t do
anything about it. Look, what we have found, you have to remember, I brought
this up. And it is my interest that we find a solution to what has become a very
egregious problem. And since these has been all exposed, well it’s actually
known to many people, but it has now been exposed to the general public, do you
blame them for going out into the streets? If I wasn’t President, I might be out
in the street with them. So, you know, of course, they are enraged, of course
they are angry. I’m angry, we should all be angry, because what is happening is
not right. So, yes, express it. You come, make your feelings known to these
people and make them answerable for the wrongdoings that they have done.
Ipaalam ninyo ang sentimyento, ipaalam ninyo kung paano nila kayo sinaktan, kung
papaano kayo ninakawan nitong mga ito. Ipaalam ninyo sa kanila, sigawan ninyo,
lahat gawin ninyo, mag-demonstrate, just keep it peaceful, kasi kapag hindi na
peaceful, eh mahirap na iyan. We will have to -- the police will have to do its
duty to maintain peace and order.
[Let them know your sentiments, let them
know how they hurt you, how they robbed you. Let them know, shout at them, do
everything, demonstrate, just keep it peaceful, because when it's not peaceful,
it's hard. We will have to -- the police will have to do its duty to maintain
peace and order.]
But to show that you are enraged, to show that you are angry, to show that you
are disappointed, to show that you want justice, to show that you want fairness,
what is wrong with that? I want to show that there is justice, I want to show
that there is fairness. I want to show I want to hold these people accountable,
just like they do. So, I don’t blame them. I don’t blame them, not one bit.
MODERATOR: Maraming salamat
[Thank you very much],
Mr. President.
PBBM: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you very much, members of
the Press Corps. That concludes our press conference, thank you.
Original Text Source: pco.gov.ph
Text Note: Tagalog to English interpretation
via Google Translate
Page Updated: 9/22/25
U.S. Copyright Status:
Text and Audio = Public
domain per this notice on the Philippine Government website: "All content is in
the public domain unless otherwise stated."
Good
morning, everyone.