Sotto to officials tagged in flood mess: Why fear if you did nothing wrong?

Senate Minority Leader Vicente "Tito" Sotto III said Thursday, 4 Sept., that legislators and government officials implicated in the controversial flood control projects have nothing to fear if they have done nothing wrong.

"If you did not do anything wrong, then there's nothing to fear," Sotto said in a television interview, stressing that accountability must apply to contractors, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials, and even politicians who may have inserted questionable projects into the budget.

Sotto also welcomed President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s order for the DPWH and the Department of Budget and Management to conduct a sweeping review of the DPWH budget under the 2026 National Expenditure Program.

“Indeed, there are very many questionable items in the DPWH budget. We cannot just move on to 2026 without finding out what happened in 2025,” he said.

Sotto also flagged reports of projects already marked as “completed” in 2025 but reappearing in the 2026 budget, “Remove it. But then again, find out who placed it.”

He highlighted Senate Bill 1215, his proposal for an Independent People’s Commission, which would ensure impartial investigations in cases of budget misuse and corruption.

“This would be a big help to guarantee that the people themselves have a safeguard against abuses of power,” he explained.

"This is people's money, not government money. That's why it's frustrating what they did with the ghost projects."