The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is actively conducting lifestyle checks on government officials, more than a month after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ordered the audits in response to alleged irregularities in flood control spending. Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro confirmed on Tuesday that the directive is underway. “Inutos na po sa BIR at ngayon po ay ongoing po ang ginagawa pong lifestyle check,” Castro told reporters during a Palace press briefing. She noted that the Palace cannot provide a timeline for releasing initial findings.
The order was first announced on August 27, following President Marcos’s State of the Nation Address, which highlighted issues like contract splitting, inflated costs, contractor collusion, and ghost projects in flood control efforts. This initiative accompanies the establishment of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to probe public works spending and the launch of the Sumbong sa Pangulo complaints platform.
Castro added that the platform has received over 19,000 reports, which are being validated and forwarded to the ICI. The Palace has not disclosed how many officials are under scrutiny or whether contractors will be included in the audits.