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Advocates Philippines
Shame On You: PBBM Calls Out Corruption In Flood Control Projects During SONA
Photo credit: RTVM
In one of the most emotionally charged moments of his State of the Nation Address today, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. didn’t hold back. With a clear tone of frustration, he confronted what he described as blatant failures and questionable practices in government flood control projects across the country.
"Mahiya naman kayo," he said bluntly, directing his words at those behind poorly executed or entirely fake projects. According to the president, many of these flood control efforts were either substandard, left unfinished, or never even existed in the first place. The situation, he suggested, goes beyond incompetence—it’s become a racket.
To address the issue, the president laid out a plan starting with full accountability. He ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to immediately submit a comprehensive list of all flood control projects initiated or completed in the last three years, from every region. This list will then be reviewed by the Regional Project Monitoring Committees to identify which projects were failures, which remain incomplete, and which are suspected "ghost projects."
But it won’t stop there. That list will be made public. Citizens will be encouraged to review it, speak up, and share what they know. Marcos emphasized that anyone found guilty of wrongdoing—government officials and their contractor accomplices alike—will face legal consequences.
He also called out the culture that has long enabled corruption in infrastructure projects. With terms like "kickbacks," "SOPs," and initiatives "for the boys" deeply embedded in the system, he said it's time to stop pretending that people don’t know what's happening.
"Alam ng buong madla na nagkaka-raket sa mga proyekto," he said.
He made it personal, invoking the ordinary Filipinos who suffer the most from these schemes: families whose homes are destroyed by flooding, and children who will inherit the national debt created by projects that were never real or never worked.
"Mahiya naman kayo sa inyong kapwa Pilipino," he said, urging those responsible to reflect on the harm they’ve caused.
More than just a speech, the president's words carried a direct challenge—to clean up the system, face the truth, and finally put an end to the misuse of public funds meant to protect lives and communities.
"Mahiya naman kayo," he said bluntly, directing his words at those behind poorly executed or entirely fake projects. According to the president, many of these flood control efforts were either substandard, left unfinished, or never even existed in the first place. The situation, he suggested, goes beyond incompetence—it’s become a racket.
To address the issue, the president laid out a plan starting with full accountability. He ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to immediately submit a comprehensive list of all flood control projects initiated or completed in the last three years, from every region. This list will then be reviewed by the Regional Project Monitoring Committees to identify which projects were failures, which remain incomplete, and which are suspected "ghost projects."
But it won’t stop there. That list will be made public. Citizens will be encouraged to review it, speak up, and share what they know. Marcos emphasized that anyone found guilty of wrongdoing—government officials and their contractor accomplices alike—will face legal consequences.
He also called out the culture that has long enabled corruption in infrastructure projects. With terms like "kickbacks," "SOPs," and initiatives "for the boys" deeply embedded in the system, he said it's time to stop pretending that people don’t know what's happening.
"Alam ng buong madla na nagkaka-raket sa mga proyekto," he said.
He made it personal, invoking the ordinary Filipinos who suffer the most from these schemes: families whose homes are destroyed by flooding, and children who will inherit the national debt created by projects that were never real or never worked.
"Mahiya naman kayo sa inyong kapwa Pilipino," he said, urging those responsible to reflect on the harm they’ve caused.
More than just a speech, the president's words carried a direct challenge—to clean up the system, face the truth, and finally put an end to the misuse of public funds meant to protect lives and communities.
Jul 28, 2025
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