The corrupt applauding themselves?

What a spectacle it was to see congressmen and senators, along with others at the Batasang Pambansa last Monday for President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address, rise to their feet and cheer the President’s firm, “Mahiya naman kayo sa inyong kapwa Pilipino.” (You ought to be ashamed of yourselves before your fellow Filipinos.)

Those were the words of the President as he related that he had just gone around to inspect the damage wrought by the recent storms and saw for himself the sorry state of the flood control projects.

“Kitang kita ko na maraming proyekto para sa flood control ay palpak at gumuguho. Yung iba guni-guni lang. Wag na po tayong magkunwari, alam naman ng buong madla na nagkakaraket sa proyekto.” (I saw many flood control projects badly built and collapsed. Others were merely illusions. Let’s not pretend, we all know these projects are money-making scams.)

In his previous SoNA, it was his declaration to ban Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators from the country that brought the Batasan to its feet; this year, the President’s expressed disdain for corruption, particularly calling out those who profited off flood control projects that failed to prevent flooding, that brought the house down.

Remarked someone watching the SoNA on television, with House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Senate President Francis Escudero clapping their hands heartily from where they stood on the Speaker’s podium, “Look at the corrupt applauding themselves.”

Not a few were aware of the spate of recent reports alluding to the Senate President’s presence in the House after the deliberations on the then proposed P6.352-trillion 2025 national budget — the final version of which was approved by the bicameral conference committee on 11 December 2024.

Political observers said there had never been an instance when the Senate President came to the House at the height of bicameral deliberations on the national budget, especially when the different provisions of the House and Senate versions of the budget were being reconciled.

Ultimately, P142.7 billion was allegedly inserted by Escudero into the proposed P6.3-trillion bicameral-approved national budget, with the Senate President’s home province of Sorsogon getting P9.1 billion, the second largest budget for infrastructure, including flood control projects many of which were said to be without engineering details or project studies.

Said Senator Imee Marcos on television, the “red flags” on these projects were “not an allegation of corruption, they were the truth. In early December (2024), I was the first to speak out against the bicameral deliberations; I protested the process. We have asked Senate President Chiz but he has not answered until now.”

In his SoNA, the President directed a stern rebuke to those with pockets fattened from flood control projects either faulty or never built. Speaking in Pilipino, he said, “Be ashamed before our countrymen who were swept away or submerged in the floods. Be ashamed especially before our children who will inherit the debts you made and the money you pocketed.”

He ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways to immediately submit a list of all flood control projects in the last three years. He also ordered the Regional Project Monitoring Committee to make a thorough examination of the projects and to give him a report on those that failed, were not completed, and those alleged to be “ghost projects.”

“We will publish the list,” he said, as applause thundered through the hall. “We will make the list public and let the people examine it and have them disclose any irregularities they may know about so it could help in our investigation.”

“So the people will know how their money was spent, the President vowed, “There will be an audit and performance review of these projects.”

We will remember what you said, Mr. President. We wish you all the luck in this effort, and please allow us the pleasure of seeing those who robbed the people blind exposed, humiliated, stripped of their ill-gotten gains, and brought to justice.