Marcos flags Rodrigo Duterte inaction on graft cases

MANILA, Philippines — For the first time, President Marcos publicly called out his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, for failing to act on anomalous flood control projects during his term, leaving the current administration to clean up the massive corruption scandal.

Marcos, on Saturday, retorted against critics calling out his allegedly snail-paced investigation and selective justice in exacting accountability against those behind the massive corruption scandal.

Had he not exposed the issue in his fourth State of the Nation Address in July last year, the President said the multibillion-peso scheme of contractors, some lawmakers and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) would not have been addressed.

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READ: Corruption scandals under Duterte: From whiff to helplessness

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Marcos criticized Duterte for doing nothing about the ghost flood control projects when the former president already knew of the “great problems” early in his term.

“But nothing happened. Having acknowledged it, he did not find accountability in anybody. So I guess that was left up [for] me to do,” he told reporters in Vancouver on Saturday as he concluded his official visit to Canada.

“Did previous presidents do something like this? Did you see any of them put anyone in jail? Did they freeze accounts? Did they conduct investigations? There were none. It only happened under me,” he added.

READ: Discaya to bare Duterte-era project details in supplemental affidavit

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Marcos noted that as early as 2018, then House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. publicly exposed what he described as a P300-billion flood control anomaly.

Citing information from a town mayor from the Bicol region, Andaya said a former member of Duterte’s Cabinet, who resigned to run for public office, facilitated the “parking” of P300 million for a flood mitigation project in his municipality.

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Marcos also denied he was “selective” and only prosecuted and jailed political opponents. “From the time we formed the independent commission, I said we’ll just follow the evidence and we’ll continue to do that,” he said.

In September 2025, Marcos issued Executive Order No. 94, creating the now-defunct Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to investigate questionable flood control projects over the past 10 years. The ICI terminated its probe in February this year, saying it had already completed its mandate.

In the five months of its operations, the ICI came up with nine referrals which recommended various criminal and administrative charges against 65 individuals, including lawmakers, contractors and officials of the DPWH and the Commission on Audit.

It said it also coordinated with the Department of Justice for the issuance of immigration lookout bulletin orders against 66 individuals tagged in the irregularities.

Through ICI’s investigations, the Anti-Money Laundering Council has secured orders from the Court of Appeals for the freezing of more than 6,700 bank accounts and assets amounting to P24.7 billion.

Among the high-profile personalities detained for these investigations include Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan and several officials of the DPWH.

Marcos acknowledged that the government is “not yet done” in holding accountable all those involved in the flood control scandal.

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“I cannot say that we have done enough because we are not done yet. Unfortunately, the more we look, the more we find. And it is already going back beyond my administration, beyond my term,” Marcos added. /cb