President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has expressed anger and frustration over what he described as massive corruption in government infrastructure programs, particularly flood control projects, which he said have drained billions of pesos from public funds.

Speaking in the fourth episode of his BBM Podcast, Marcos lamented how anomalous practices have become entrenched in the system, with only a fraction of project budgets reaching actual implementation.

“Okay lang. Hindi problema ‘yan. Hindi krimen ‘yan. Sige lang. It was normalized. People have come to accept this, but to the level na 30% na lang yung naiiwan sa mga proyekto. Astounding yun,” the President said.

He criticized corrupt officials and contractors for diverting funds intended for public services.

“I would think it's heartbreaking when you see all these Filipinos working so hard… tapos nakikita ko yung massive corruption na nangyayari. Walang ginawa itong mga tao kundi magtrabaho, magsakripisyo para sa pamilya nila. Kukunin n’yo pa sa kanila yun para bumili ng Rolls Royce?” he added.

Marcos vowed accountability, saying the government would identify those involved, hold them responsible, and introduce reforms to prevent similar schemes.

“What we can do is to find out how this happened, who are the people that are involved, make them answerable for the wrongdoing, and fix the structure so this is not allowable,” he said.

Asked how such irregularities became widespread, the President simply answered because it was being abandoned.

“The simplistic answer will be, paano tayo nagkaganto? Dahil pinabayaan,” he said.

Today, September 8, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee will hold its third hearing on the flood control project anomalies in the country, which have cost the government billions of pesos through ghost and substandard projects.