Marcos 'shocked' over removal of key anti-corruption safeguard in infra projects

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. expressed shock after learning that a key safeguard mechanism against corruption in government infrastructure projects was removed during the previous administration.

In the latest episode of The BBM Podcast aired on Monday, Marcos said that in the past decade, the implementation of national government projects had deviated from established procedures meant to ensure accountability and quality control.

The President recalled that when he was still governor of Ilocos Norte, local governments played a vital role in inspecting and certifying the completion of national projects within their jurisdictions.

“When I was in local government, when the national government came in and it was going to do a construction, they come in, they do the project. At some point, they come back to the local government executives and say, ‘Tapos na. Natapos namin ‘yung project (it's completed. We have completed the project),” Marcos said.

“Iinspeksyunin namin ngayon ‘yun. ‘Pag nakita namin hindi maganda ito, hindi tama itong ginawa ninyo, hindi ko pipirmahan ‘yung acceptance (We will inspect those projects. If we found that it wasn’t done properly, I wouldn’t sign the acceptance),” he explained.

He noted that the contractor cannot receive payment if the local government refuses to sign the acceptance document, so the contractor must rectify the defects and complete the project.

Marcos said he was surprised to learn that this system, where local executives had to approve the project’s completion before the contractor could be paid, was removed under the previous administration.

“Apparently, in the last administration, they removed that entirely. I was shocked because this is standard procedure—you don’t even think twice about it,” the President said.

He stressed that the safeguard had been an important measure to prevent substandard infrastructure projects and ensure transparency in public spending.

The President also discussed the potential of emerging technologies in promoting accountability and transparency in government transactions, particularly in project monitoring and budget data management.

“I haven’t seen any AI that is specifically geared towards that. Blockchain is something that could work,” Marcos said when asked about the possible use of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology in ensuring transparency.

He noted that blockchain, a decentralized and tamper-proof digital ledger, could enhance transparency and data integrity in government operations by providing an immutable record of transactions accessible across multiple systems.

The President has previously emphasized his administration’s commitment to digitalization and the adoption of new technologies to improve governance and fight corruption.