Metro Manila, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to deliver his annual report to the nation with one major question still hanging over his administration: when will those responsible for the multibillion-peso flood control scandal be held accountable, as he promised?
During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 2025, members of Congress cheered for the chief executive when he vowed action on alleged irregularities in flood control projects amid the devastating impact of successive storms on communities across the country.
“Sa mga nakikipagsabwatan para kunin ang pondo ng bayan at nakawin ang kinabukasan ng ating mamamayan, mahiya naman kayo sa ating kapwa Pilipino…Sa mga susunod na buwan, makakasuhan ang lahat ng lalabas na maysala sa imbestigasyon pati na ang mag kasabwat na kontratista,” said Marcos before lawmakers, some of whom were later implicated in the corruption probe.
[Translation: To those conspiring to steal public funds and rob our people of their future, you should be ashamed of your fellow Filipinos. In the coming months, everyone found guilty through the investigation – including the contractors who colluded in the scheme – will face charges.]
Who were jailed
A year after the president’s pledge to launch a massive probe into the country’s flood control projects, a sitting senator and a former lawmaker – along with several personnel of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and a number of contractors – have been detained while awaiting trial. Others remain atlarge.
Senator Jinggoy Estrada returned to detention in June over non-bailable plunder charges, in connection to the alleged pocketing of ₱573-million in flood control kickbacks. He is also facing separate graft charges.
Estrada had denied the allegations, saying the case was politically motivated.
In January, former Senator Bong Revilla also returned to jail for malversation and graft charges for allegedly conspiring with DPWH officers “to facilitate the release of approximately ₱76 million for the supposed construction of flood control projects” in Pandi, Bulacan.
Revilla rejected the allegations and said his conscience was clean.
Estrada and Revilla were implicated in the priority development assistance fund or the pork barrel scam, but both have also been acquitted of the charges filed against them.
Also serving time pending trial were contractor couple Sarah and Curlee Discaya for separate cases involving alleged irregularities of projects linked to construction firms they allegedly own.
Sarah has been detained in Cebu since December, while Curlee was transferred to the Bulacan provincial jail in June after his detention at the Senate for a contempt order.
Meanwhile, the Sandiganbayan has yet to rule on the Office of the Ombudsman’s motion to discharge former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan from the Estrada case and make him a state witness.
Implicated but not detained
As the flood control probe reached high-ranking officials in both chambers of Congress, several Filipinos continue to ask: Why has no congressman been jailed?
A number of members of the House of Representatives were named in different investigations – including its former speaker, Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, the president’s cousin.
On July 20, the Office of the Ombudsman announced that it was filing complaints for preliminary investigation against Romualdez after identifying him “as the central figure in a scheme built on the diversion of public funds meant for flood control projects.”
Preliminary investigation, however, is not a formal case filed with the Sandiganbayan, the country’s anti-graft court. It is the stage where investigators examine if the evidence gathered is substantial enough to file charges.
Romualdez had denied the allegations and vowed to defend himself at the proper forum.
Aside from him, the ombudsman is investigating a number of so-called “cong-tractors” or House members who allegedly have links to construction firms bagging infrastructure contracts, which the law prohibits under the principle of conflict of interest.
READ: All in the family: 8 lawmakers, kin corner billions in public works projects
On July 25, the office said it had filed 14 counts of graft against Uswag-Ilonggo Rep. James “Jojo Ang” Jr., for supposedly holding a stake in a construction firm that won ₱214 million in DPWH contracts. Graft is a bailable offense.
Former House appropriations chairman Zaldy Co remains at large amid the graft and malversation charges against him linked to an alleged substandard project in Oriental Mindoro.
Investigations had pointed out Co’s links to Sunwest Inc., one of the construction firms that secured the most number of infrastructure projects from 2022 to 2025.
Meanwhile, other senators also face pending investigations, including Chiz Escudero and Joel Villanueva, who were previously tagged in the alleged kickback scheme.
Marcos not spared from allegations
The president and his immediate family members were also not spared from accusations in the multibillion-peso scandal.
In November, Co, in a series of online videos, alleged that Marcos ordered a ₱100-billion insertion in the national budget.
“Tinawagan ko sa Speaker Martin Romualdez at ni-report ko ang instructions ng presidente to insert 100 billion projects and sinabi niya sa akin: what the president wants, he gets,” the former lawmaker claimed, adding that a 25 percent cut was supposedly allotted for the chief executive.
[Translation: I called Speaker Martin Romualdez and relayed the president’s instructions to insert ₱100 billion worth of projects. He told me, ‘what the president wants, he gets.’]
Marcos previously dismissed Co’s accusations, daring him to come home and face his charges.
Co had also accused the president’s son, House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, of ordering billions of budget insertions from 2023 to 2025. The Ilocos Norte lawmaker had rejected the claims.
The Palace is mum on whether Marcos will discuss his administration’s crackdown on the flood control irregularities in his SONA on Monday, July 27.
“Kung anong sasabihin po siguro ng Pangulo sa SONA ay mas magandang mapakinggan natin ito sa Lunes. At ang patungkol po sa mga contractors, marami na pong mga contractors ang nasampahan ng kaso at iyong ilan po siguro ay kung wala pang ebidensiya ay hindi po masasampahan pa ng kaso,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro told reporters on July 23.
[Translation: Whatever the president has to say in his SONA, it would be best for us to hear it directly on Monday. As for the contractors, many have already been charged, while others may not have been charged yet because there is still not enough evidence against them.]
