The Philippine government has launched a sweeping nationwide manhunt for officials and private contractors linked to an explosive flood-control corruption scandal that has ignited massive street protests and triggered the most dramatic political shake-up of the Marcos administration to date.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., facing mounting public fury over billions of pesos allegedly siphoned from defective or non-existent flood-control projects, confirmed Friday that arrest teams have been mobilized to track down former lawmaker Zaldy Co and 17 other accused individuals. Warrants from the Sandiganbayan were issued this week, marking a decisive escalation in a scandal that continues to widen by the day.
In a recorded message, Marcos vowed that all those named in the warrants would be taken into custody without exception. He said the arrests were necessary to restore public trust after years of substandard river dikes, abandoned defenses and overpriced construction projects that have worsened flooding in some of the country’s poorest provinces. The president stressed that there would be no special treatment, no political shielding and no escape from accountability.
Authorities said Co, who resigned from Congress earlier this month, fled the country shortly before the Sandiganbayan issued the warrants involving a P289-million flood-control project in Oriental Mindoro. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Co was last tracked to Japan, adding that Interpol assistance will be sought through a Red Notice should he remain abroad. The other suspects, including engineers and executives of Sunwest Corp., are now barred from leaving the Philippines.
Government lawyers have recommended no bail for all eighteen suspects, citing what they described as “extraordinary levels of fraud, deception and potential public harm” tied to the river dike project. Investigators say the irregularities uncovered so far represent only a fraction of the systemic abuses across the national flood-control program.
The scandal has already unseated some of the country’s most influential politicians. House Speaker Martin Romualdez stepped down earlier this month after his name surfaced in investigative reports, though he has denied wrongdoing. Former Senate President Chiz Escudero has been placed under investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman, along with at least four other senators. Senator Bong Go has also been drawn into scrutiny but has denied any involvement.
This political firestorm comes as the nation still grapples with the unprecedented arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court in March, an event that intensified the country’s already polarized political climate. Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, has since openly declared that Marcos himself should be investigated over the passage of the 2025 national budget, which funded many of the questioned flood-control projects.
Ombudsman prosecutors, however, say Marcos first flagged anomalies in these infrastructure programs as early as July during his annual address to Congress. The Palace continues to maintain that the president acted immediately when initial reports suggested widespread diversion of funds.
What makes the scandal even more staggering is its scope. Officials say more than 9,800 flood-control projects, amounting to over P545 billion, are currently under investigation nationwide. Finance Secretary Ralph Recto earlier revealed that as much as P118.5 billion may have vanished into corrupt dealings since 2023 alone.
The crisis has ignited a wave of public protests in major urban centers, with civil society groups, religious organizations and student movements demanding transparency, mass resignations and swift prosecutions. Protesters argue that the country has suffered avoidable deaths, economic losses and long-term environmental impacts because flood-control funds were allegedly plundered rather than used to protect flood-prone communities.
As the warrants are enforced and the political battle lines sharpen, the government faces a race against time. Public confidence is rapidly eroding, the storm of public anger shows no signs of weakening, and the widening investigation threatens to redefine the country’s political landscape in the weeks leading to Christmas — exactly as Marcos himself warned when he said more arrests were imminent.
The unfolding manhunt may just be the first chapter in what analysts predict could become one of the most consequential corruption crackdowns in modern Philippine history.
