President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said that government officials linked to alleged irregularities in flood control projects cannot escape accountability simply by resigning, emphasizing that due process must prevail.
“No, that’s not enough. That’s not enough,” Marcos said in his latest Bagong Pilipinas Podcast episode when asked if resignation absolves implicated officials.
“There is a great deal of damage that has been caused, not only financial damage or economic damage, but damage, actual damage to people’s lives,” he added.
The Marcos administration has launched a comprehensive review of flood control projects amid reports of anomalous allocations and alleged collusion between contractors and public officials.
To ensure transparency, the President created the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to investigate the irregularities.
In its interim report, the ICI recommended that the Office of the Ombudsman file graft charges against 18 individuals, including resigned lawmaker Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, over a substandard PHP289.5-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.
Co, who has been at the center of the controversy, has strongly denied the accusations.