Palace twits Sara: PBBM doesn’t do ‘tokhang’ probes

Malacañang on Wednesday pushed back against Vice President Sara Duterte’s jab at President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., which belittled his administration’s probe into corruption in flood control projects.

Speaking in The Hague, Netherlands, Duterte said that if Marcos were truly serious about cleaning up the mess, it would “take only one day” to catch all the culprits.

That didn’t sit well with Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro, who called the remark “absolutely preposterous,” stressing that the President is committed to due process.

“President Marcos Jr. does not conduct an investigation the ‘tokhang’ way. The President respects due process; the President respects human rights — so everything must go through the proper procedure,” Castro said.

“Tokhang” (knock) was the term that described the extrajudicial killing of drug suspects during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.

Castro pointed out the Vice President could have hurled the same challenge at her father during his presidency when he admitted there were “ghost projects” at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Holding up a copy of a 2020 news article, Castro pointedly asked: “If it only takes one day, why didn’t she suggest it to her father? Former President Duterte himself admitted there were many ghost projects back then. But was a DPWH secretary dismissed during his term?”

Castro said the ongoing probe into anomalous flood control projects is meant to serve the public, not score political points.

“This investigation is for the people, not politics. The President is pushing ahead even if it hurts his own administration,” she said.

The exchange came just days after DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan resigned, after the anomalies during his watch surfaced. He has been replaced by Vince Dizon, who promised to overhaul the department in 60 days — starting with asking DPWH officials to submit their courtesy resignations.